Sweet Child O' Mine
by DolphinsChick72
Summary: After a misunderstanding-induced mistake, Maya Hart finds herself torn between her boyfriend, her baby daddy, and the guy pretending to be her baby daddy. Yep, this is the mess her life has become. Lucaya/Joshaya/Zaya.
1. Witnessing a Betrayal

**A/N: Hey guys! So first off, this is my first attempt at writing a fic. Characters will most likely be OOC at times, so I apologize in advance for that. It's just kind of necessary for this story.**

 **The endgame pairing hasn't been decided yet. As stated in the summary, multiple pairings will be explored. However, if one pairing is particularly popular, that will most likely be the one that wins out in the end. But there's a whole lot of drama that has to go down before we get to that point.**

 **Maya, Riley, Lucas, Farkle, and Zay are 16. Josh is 19.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World.**

* * *

Maya hadn't intended on being there that night.

Riley and Lucas had known this. They thought that Riley's bedroom was a place of privacy, where they could say and do whatever they wanted and it would stay between the two of them. They never noticed Maya's phone lying there on Riley's desk. It was what she had forgotten and left there earlier that afternoon. It was the reason she had come back. It was the reason that she was just outside Riley's window at the moment that her boyfriend of three years looked into her best friend's eyes and then kissed her.

Maya watched the scene in disbelief for a moment before it sunk in what was really and truly happening. And then she ran.

She didn't know where she was going. She didn't care. She just wanted to escape from the anguish that was now causing a physical ache in her chest.

 _Why, Lucas? I trusted you. How could you hurt me this way?_

 _And did it have to be with Riley? Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be her?_

 _Riley, you were supposed to be my best friend…_

In Maya's experience, there weren't a whole lot of good people in this world. But Riley and Lucas were always indisputably _good_. They cared about other people. They cared about her.

Maybe they just cared about each other more.

She finally collapsed onto the grassy ground of a small local park, and she let the tears come pouring out of her eyes.

 _Don't cry, Maya. You're tougher than this. Don't cry._

But she couldn't stop. Two of the most important people in her world had betrayed her. What was she supposed to do now? Who did she have left? She loved Riley's family like they were her own, but they were just that— _Riley's_ family. Zay was _Lucas'_ friend years before he met the rest of them. Who knew where Farkle's loyalties would lie.

 _They hurt me. But I'm the one that's going to lose everything._

* * *

Josh tossed yet another empty beer can into the backseat of his car. He'd pulled the car over after a while because, even in this state, he knew better than driving drunk. But alcohol was the only thing that was helping numb him right now.

He picked up his phone and stared at his background picture of him and Kaylie at a college basketball game. He loved her. He had envisioned himself marrying her. And then she just tells him that there's somebody else? After _two years_?

He stumbled out of his car and threw the phone as far as he could. He couldn't look at it anymore. It hurt too damn much.

He turned around and his blurred vision caught sight of a blonde in the distance. She looked like she was curled up in a ball underneath a tree.

Josh ventured closer and closer until he found himself right next to her.

"Maya?"

* * *

Maya's eyes instantly darted up towards the figure in a brief moment of fear, before she realized who the person was and relaxed.

"Hey," she mumbled, not bothering to move from her position.

"W-What are you doing?"

She noticed that his words were coming out slurred and looked up again. Something was really different about Josh. She hadn't seen him like this before, all shaky and not really in control of himself.

She forced herself to sit up. "You're drunk," she stated, bluntly.

"Mmm-hmm." He collapsed by her side. "My world just fell apart. Everything—just gone. Kaylie. My future. But not the beer. I still have three—four of those?"

"I could use one."

"Nah, you're too young. Don't be like me, Maya. Don't fall in love."

Josh's drunken advice was some that Maya wished she'd had a long time ago. She wished she hadn't fallen for him—a guy she could never have. She wished she hadn't fallen for Lucas—a guy that her best friend had first. The result was always the same. She was always hurt.

"Lucas cheated on me," she whispered. "Him and Riley…"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said the words out loud. She'd felt pain many times throughout her life, but she didn't know if she had ever felt pain like this.

"Hey, don't cry," Josh said, wrapping his arms around her.

"I j-just don't know what's w-wrong with me," Maya cried. "W-Why I wasn't good enough f-for him. Or for you. Or m-my dad. Or anyone."

She never expected Josh, even a drunk Josh, to do what he did next.

He kissed her.

A few years ago, this was a fantasy of hers. Now all it did was help to relieve some of the pain. But that was enough.

 _Just make the pain go away._

Maya slowly pulled Josh down on top of her, and from that point, she shut off all the parts in her brain that were telling her this was a bad idea. She didn't care anymore. She only had one thing left to lose, and she was in the process of doing just that.

She'd thought Lucas would be her first. And he would've been had he not insisted upon "waiting until they were ready." He'd said he cared about her too much to do something that they would regret later and wanted to wait until the time was truly right.

 _Or maybe he just didn't want me._

Josh didn't want her either. She wasn't naïve enough to think that this was anything more than sex to him—sex that he would regret the minute he sobered up. But it served as a temporary distraction from the devastating betrayal that she'd just witnessed—that she _couldn't_ think about right now because it hurt so badly.

 _Let me have this one night. I'll start picking up the pieces left of my life tomorrow._

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know if you think this story's worth continuing?**


	2. When Nothing is as it Seems

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews/follows/favorites!**

 **For those of you waiting for Zaya interaction, there will be plenty of it coming up in the chapters following this one.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Tomorrow came too soon.

By the time Maya's alarm went off, she had already been awake for hours. Just thinking about everything that had happened last night. Wondering if maybe it had all been some kind of a dream—that she had never seen Lucas kissing Riley at all. Because they didn't kiss. Everything was still the way that it was supposed to be.

Then the soreness set in, reminding her that it _was_ in fact real. She _had_ seen Lucas and Riley, and the pain it caused led her to do something incredibly stupid. Maya groaned as she thought about how awkward her next run-in with Josh was going to be.

 _What was I thinking?_

It had been a shortsighted attempt to forget about how hurt she was, to forget that she'd been stabbed in the back by two of the people that she loved most. But by the time it was over, all of the pain from that betrayal had returned.

She knew that she had to confront Lucas and Riley, and she had mixed feelings about doing so. She was so angry and hurt that humiliating them in front of as many people as possible had crossed her mind quite a few times. But there was another part of her that didn't want to confront them at all. Because even though they had betrayed her, she wasn't looking forward to losing them. She barely remembered her life before they were in it—especially Riley.

 _How could they do this? How could they put me in this position?_

Maya sighed and got up to get ready for school, knowing that it might very well be the worst day of her life.

* * *

"Maya!"

Maya heard Riley calling her name right before she walked into their first class. The brunette looked as cheerful as ever, and Maya briefly wondered how she did it. How she could stand there and act like she hadn't done anything wrong.

Riley held out Maya's cell phone to her. "You must have left this in my room yesterday. I didn't notice it until I tried to text you this morning."

Maya took the phone. "I was gonna come back for it last night."

"Why didn't you?" Riley asked, looking at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

"We'll talk at lunch—behind the gym. I want you and Lucas both there. You can tell him that. I don't want to talk to either of you until then." With that, Maya walked into their classroom, leaving behind a very confused Riley.

* * *

Lunch came, and by the time Maya could get over to the gym, Lucas and Riley were already waiting for her. She had so many things that she wanted to say to the two of them that she didn't know where to begin.

"Maya, what's going on?" Lucas asked. "You've been ignoring me all day. You're not answering my texts. Did I do something that I don't know about?"

Maya shook her head in disgust. She didn't understand how they could continue to act so innocent when it was so clear that she knew what was going on.

"It's over," she said, looking from him to Riley. "You guys don't get to lie to me for one more single second. I trusted you. I trusted both of you! Riley, we have been best friends for our entire lives!" She turned to Lucas then. "And you. I have spent _years_ listening to you tell me that you love me. Did you ever even mean it? Or was it always Riley?"

Riley looked stunned. "Maya, what are you talking about?"

"You stabbing me in the back! That's what I'm talking about! How long has it been going on?" Maya demanded.

"How long has _what_ been going on?" Lucas said. "You aren't making any sense, Maya. What exactly are you accusing us of?"

"I saw you," she replied, her voice quieter. "I saw the two of you together. So you don't get to pretend that I'm crazy, or that you have no idea what I'm talking about. I saw you kiss her. I saw you kiss Riley."

Lucas' eyes widened. "You mean last night?"

" _That's_ what this is about?" Riley actually looked relieved. "Maya, you didn't realize what we were doing?"

"Of course I did! You were kissing my boyfriend! Well, you know what? You can have him. I don't want to stand in the way of you two being together for another minute longer."

"Maya, I don't think you understand," Lucas said. "But give me a second, and I'll show you something that will explain everything."

Maya rolled her eyes as he took out his laptop, and a minute or two later, he held it up in front of her. "Is this what you're upset about?" he asked. He pushed a 'play' button, and there was a video of him and Riley in her bedroom. It was obviously from last night because they were wearing the same clothes. But in the video, they were speaking Spanish and looked like they were in a heated conversation. Of course, Maya didn't have the first clue what they were saying. She'd taken French instead, and she couldn't even remember much of that. She watched until the video got to the part that she remembered, where Lucas kissed Riley.

Maya shook her head, confused. "What is this supposed to be?"

"Our Spanish project," Riley replied. "Everyone in the class had to draw a topic and make one of these short videos. Ours was a Spanish soap opera. We're watching them in class today."

Maya blinked. "Huh?"

Lucas closed his laptop. "You see. Riley and I were just partners on a project. We don't have anything going on behind your back. We would never do that."

"But…But…" Maya stammered. "What kind of teacher makes you kiss for a project!"

"We added that in for extra points," Lucas admitted. "I'm seriously on the bubble right now, and we're always listening to our teacher talk about what a romantic she is. It seemed like an easy way to get a higher grade."

"We really didn't think you would mind," Riley said, touching her shoulder.

Maya stared at them in disbelief. She didn't know whether she felt more relieved or sickened by this turn of events. It was a project. They were kissing for a project.

With this realization, her anger quickly turned to guilt. Because she hadn't simply assumed the worst and then wrongfully tore into them. No, she had done something far worse that she wasn't sure Lucas or Riley would ever forgive her for.

"Maya?" Riley said, quietly. "Are you still mad at us?"

"No. No, I just…I thought…"

"It did probably look bad," Lucas conceded. "Maybe we should've told you what we were planning to do ahead of time."

Riley nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry about all this. I wish you had just stayed a few seconds longer so you'd have known what was going on."

"Me too," Maya said, looking down.

"But it's okay because we're good now," Riley said. "Right?"

"Yeah, we're good." Maya forced a small smile and then allowed them both to hug her. But she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her things would never be normal again.

* * *

That afternoon, Maya had only been home for a few minutes when she got a knock on the door. She went to open it and was surprised to see Josh on the other side.

 _Well. Looks like this awkward conversation is going to happen sooner than I planned._

"Hey, Maya."

"Hey. I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me ever again, much less today."

He gave her a small smile. "You think I could come in for a minute?"

Maya moved out of the way and then shut the door after he'd walked inside.

"Your mom isn't home, is she?" Josh asked.

"Nope," Maya replied. "So we should probably just cut to the chase. About last night…"

"It shouldn't have happened. That's why I came over—to apologize to you. I was a mess, which I'm sure you remember. But that isn't an excuse. I shouldn't have kissed you."

 _Kissing me? THAT'S what you're worried about?_

Maya frowned. "Josh, how much do you remember from last night?"

"Not a whole lot," he admitted with a faint chuckle. "I'd had way too much to drink. I thought it would help me forget about everything with my girlfriend, but it was still right there waiting for me when I woke up this morning—along with a bad hangover. But I did remember kissing you, and I'm actually pretty embarrassed when I think of the kind of things I was probably telling you. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry about all that."

Maya wasn't sure what to say. She was still in shock that he didn't remember them sleeping together. But she decided that there was no point in enlightening him now. The only thing that would accomplish is to freak him out for no reason—especially considering the fact that she was only sixteen.

She sighed. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. Except for being so drunk that I had to drive you to your dorm because I've never drove in traffic that bad before, and I'm not really sure how you do it on a regular basis."

"You get used to it after a while. But thank you for doing that. And I haven't gotten an angry phone call from my brother yet, so can I thank you for not telling him too?"

Maya nodded. "It'll be our secret. As long as you promise me that you'll never do something like that again."

"That is one promise I can definitely make." He gave her a quick hug. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yeah." She watched him walk out the door and then sighed to herself. She still felt so guilty, but it was clear now that she just had to find some way to forget about everything that had happened and move on.

* * *

That weekend, Maya went dress shopping with her mom. Shawn had finally proposed to Katy a few weeks ago, and neither of them wanted to drag out the engagement. The ceremony was going to be a small affair with just family and close friends and would take place in just short of three months' time.

"Oh sweetie, you look so beautiful," Katy said, after Maya had walked out of the dressing room in a strapless blue formal.

"Yeah, this one's nice," Maya agreed. But Katy couldn't help but notice how distracted her daughter seemed. Maya had been so excited about picking out dresses before, and now her enthusiasm had waned dramatically.

Katy smiled. "This is the one then. Why don't we buy this, and then we'll go get something for lunch?"

Maya nodded.

Half an hour later, mother and daughter were sitting in a corner booth of a nearby restaurant. Katy watched as Maya continued to look over her menu in silence.

"Maya?" Katy finally said. "You haven't said a word for the past ten minutes. Are you alright, baby?"

Maya looked up. "Yeah. I just…actually, no. Not really. Mom, what do you do when you really screw up, but you feel like if you tell anyone about it, they'll never speak to you again? But then if you don't tell them, you just keep feeling guilty."

Katy frowned. "Well, guilt is something that usually doesn't go away on its own. Being honest with someone is the only way to clear your conscience."

"Isn't there another way? Being honest about this would literally mess up my entire life."

As Maya's mother, that statement did not reassure Katy in the least.

"Maya, whatever this is about, you can tell me. It's hard for me to help you when I don't know what's going on."

Maya shook her head. "It's okay. It's just a thing with my friends. Nothing for you to worry about."

She would later wish that she had told the truth right then and there—before a new complication presented itself and forced Maya into a situation that nothing could've prepared her for.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think, please!**


	3. Maya's Diagnosis

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites!**

 **Brace yourselves. A lot of drama is coming in this chapter. But I think you can guess that by the chapter title lol.**

* * *

One Month Later

Life had slowly returned to normal for Maya. She and Riley were good again. She and Lucas were good again. The one thing she'd learned from this whole ordeal was that she had no reason not to trust them. They were only friends, and she just wished that her mind hadn't jumped to the worst possible conclusion when she saw them together.

Maya's own feelings of guilt still lingered, but she was beginning to move past them. Through a few incredibly vague conversations with the adults in her life, she realized that it was unfair to define herself by one night. People make mistakes. That's a part of life. It was also a part of the past now. She was focusing on the present and all the good things that she had to look forward to.

"We should do something really wonderful this summer," Riley said. She, Maya, Lucas, Farkle, Smackle, and Zay were all gathered in the mall's food court one afternoon.

"We could go to the beach," Lucas suggested.

Zay grinned. "Florida, baby. That sounds like a plan."

"If we go off that far, my parents will demand a chaperone," Riley warned. "Then that will turn into them insisting on being the chaperones. And that will turn into my entire family coming with us."

Farkle shrugged. "At least we all like your family."

"I think we should do it," Maya chimed in. "But we only have like two more weeks of school, so we need to make plans now. I still have to buy a bathing suit."

"Ah, bikinis. Yet another bonus of going to the beach," Zay commented.

Lucas rolled his eyes and smiled. "So what if we go the week after school lets out?"

Everyone agreed to that because no one wanted to hold off a trip to Florida for longer than they had to. However, it also became clear that they would be making a road trip of it, and that two vehicles would most likely be required. Within a few short minutes, Riley received her parents' approval via text message—with the condition that they come along, of course.

Maya stood up after a while. "Okay, that chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has been calling my name ever since we got here. Anybody else want some?"

Riley laughed. "Why are you so obsessed with cookie dough all of a sudden? You're starting to remind me of my Uncle Josh. And you know it's unhealthy when you get to that point."

Maya paused for a moment. She supposed it _was_ slightly strange that her taste in ice cream had changed. She normally went straight for strawberry, but now cookie dough was suddenly irresistible to her. But she thought little else of it and headed off to satisfy her craving.

* * *

A few more days passed, and the teens had started reviewing for their final exams. Their first period class was taught by Riley's dad. Maya sat in her desk, bored, as Mr. Matthews tried to prepare them for their test. His class was usually her favorite, but every class became boring when finals rolled around.

"Dad, why do we need to know any of this?" Riley eventually asked.

Cory sighed. "You would have to ask the government that, Riley. The law requires that I test you kids on certain things, even if I don't think all of it is important."

"I don't see how any of it is important," Maya remarked.

Farkle looked from one girl to the other. "I don't understand you guys. This is the best part of the whole year!"

Cory smiled. "Okay. Back to World War II…"

As he started to list the Allied Powers, Maya was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea. She tried to ignore it at first, but quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran out of the room, leaving behind several startled classmates.

Soon, she was in the bathroom emptying the contents of her stomach into a toilet.

 _Yep. This is what I get for eating Chinese leftovers for breakfast._

By the time she was finished, she was vowing never to eat at that restaurant again.

"Maya?"

Hearing Riley's concerned voice, she stepped out of the stall. "Okay, that was weird. I think that's the first time I've thrown up since fifth grade."

"Are you okay? Do you need to go home?" Riley wondered.

Maya considered for a moment. She was pretty certain that she didn't have a fever, so she probably wasn't sick. _But_ if it got her out of school for the rest of the day, she wasn't above pretending.

"That's a good idea. I mean, I wouldn't want to infect you guys with whatever germ I've got."

* * *

Shawn picked her up from school a few minutes later, and she managed to talk him out of taking her to the doctor. Maya assured him that she would go if she didn't feel better by the next day, but of course, she knew that wouldn't be necessary. She was already feeling fine again.

However, Lucas and Zay dropped by after school, and she didn't have the same kind of luck convincing them.

"Maya, we have exams next week," Lucas pointed out. "I know you don't want to be sick when we have to have our cramming sessions."

"I told you, I'm not sick. I just ate some bad food this morning!" Maya insisted.

Zay crossed his arms. "But it didn't make you sick when you ate it last night? That doesn't make any sense. And odds are that whatever you've got, we're all gonna end up with. We need to know what we're dealing with here."

Lucas nodded. "Just humor us. If you aren't sick, then you get the satisfaction of saying that you were right and we were wrong."

"Hmmm, that does sound appealing," Maya admitted.

"I thought it would," Lucas smiled as he put his arm around her and led her out the door.

Several minutes later, they were seated in a nearly empty waiting room. Maya was starting to wish that she hadn't caved to Lucas. She detested going to the doctor. It was always a long and boring wait, and they always tried to talk her into taking a shot—even after she expressed her fear of needles. And that wasn't mentioning the fact that, most of the time, she found out that her illness would've gone away on its own soon anyway.

After about thirty minutes had passed, Zay sighed and looked at Lucas. "Why did I agree to come with you again?"

"Because you wanted some of that free pizza that I'm ordering when we get out of here," Lucas reminded him.

"Oh, yeah. It's gonna be stuffed crust, right?"

"Do we ever do anything else?"

"I wonder how cookie dough would taste on pizza," Maya mused.

Zay made a disgusted face. "Why would you ever defile a piece of pizza like that?"

"Hey, Maya has the right to put whatever she wants on her part of the pizza," Lucas said, in defense of his girlfriend. Of course, he doubted that Pizza Hut offered cookie dough as a topping. He hoped not anyway. Zay was right. That sounded pretty awful.

Lucas' cell phone beeped, and he sighed when he read the message.

"Baby, I have to run a quick errand for my mom. I should be back before you're done," he told Maya, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before he stood up. "Zay, would you mind going back there with her?"

"Why? She can't go back there by herself?"

" _Yes_ ," Maya said, rolling her eyes.

Lucas gave her a knowing look. "Oh no. Your mom told me about this a long time ago. You tell the doctor that nothing is wrong with you, and your family is completely overreacting by bringing you here in the first place. Sound familiar?"

Maya crossed her arms. "Because that's usually how it happens. And nothing _is_ wrong with me!"

"Fine, I'll go make sure she behaves," Zay said with a chuckle, earning him a shove from Maya.

* * *

Shortly after Lucas left, Maya was called back into a small room. Zay sat in a corner chair and surfed the Internet on his phone while the nurse was questioning Maya.

"Okay, dear. What are your symptoms?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not sick," Maya said, before Zay looked up and she sighed in defeat. "Fine. I threw up this morning at school. But I think it was from this Chinese food that I ate for breakfast."

"Alright. Anything else?"

Maya shrugged. "I don't think so."

The brunette nurse stood and approached her. "Let's just take your temperature and see what we're working with."

She inserted the thermometer briefly in Maya's ear and then smiled. "Perfectly normal. That's a good sign. It's likely that the food was just bad, or it didn't sit well with you. You did only eat it once?"

"No, I had it last night too. But without the puking."

"Hmmm. That's a little odd." The nurse sat back down and went back to her chart. "When was the date of your last period?"

"Uh, hang on a minute." Maya went to the app in her phone that kept up with her period, but she wasn't prepared for the words that were displayed on her screen.

20 Days Late.

That couldn't be right.

Could it? She couldn't remember having a period recently. And she'd always been pretty regular, no more than a week late. Maya's heartbeat quickened as she realized what this could mean.

 _Oh my God. It can't be. I can't be._

"Maya?" the nurse said.

Maya forced herself to look up. "I don't know when it was. My app's messing up."

The nurse looked back at her chart. "Have you had sexual intercourse recently?"

"Are you seriously accusing me of being pregnant?" Maya demanded. Zay had stopped paying attention by now, but quickly looked up again after Maya's outburst. And he quickly started putting the pieces together. Her getting sick at school. Her weird appetite.

"Oh my God!" he said, stunned.

Maya turned and pointed to the door. "Zay, get out of here!"

"Why? I already know now. And I know you don't want to be alone when you have blood drawn."

Maya frowned. That was a good point. She looked back at the nurse, desperation in her eyes.

"I'm not pregnant," she said, her voice quieter now.

The nurse looked at her, sympathetically. "Sweetie, if you're late and you've had sexual intercourse recently, then it's a possibility we have to look at. We can take some blood, and we'll know in just a few minutes."

"But I hate needles," Maya whimpered.

"Hang on." Zay stood beside her and held her hand. "Just close your eyes. It'll be over soon."

* * *

After the necessary amount of blood was drawn, the nurse left Maya and Zay alone in the room. Maya was staring at the floor tiles, wondering how this could possibly be happening to her. It was one time. One time!

"It's gonna be okay, you know," Zay said. "Even if you are pregnant. You have a lot of people that care about you. We're not going anywhere."

"I'm not pregnant," Maya repeated. Even if she didn't fully believe what she was saying, her shaky assurances were the only thing keeping her somewhat calm. Because she couldn't think about the alternative without having a panic attack.

So she just sat there, taking in deep breaths, until a doctor finally entered the room several minutes later. Before the gray-haired man even opened his mouth, Maya knew. She knew that look in his eyes—it was sympathy.

"You must be Maya," he said, offering his hand to her. "I'm Dr. Jacobs."

Maya reluctantly shook it.

"Do you have her test results yet?" Zay asked, bluntly. He could see how close Maya was to having a breakdown, and he wasn't going to let this doctor beat around the bush.

"We do have the results, and we checked them multiple times to be certain," the doctor said as he sighed. "You are pregnant, Maya."

She may have suspected on some level that this was the news that the doctor was going to give her, but nothing could've ever prepared her to hear those words. Because those words made it real. She was actually pregnant. There was a tiny person growing inside of her at that very moment. With this realization, Maya started to feel like she may pass out.

Zay looked at the doctor with wide eyes. "You're sure about this? There's no chance you could be wrong?"

"None," the doctor replied. "But it's important to try not to panic. There are many options and resources available to you. Would the two of you like a few minutes alone?"

"Oh, we're not…"

"Yes," Maya said, cutting off Zay's attempt to correct the doctor's assumption. The man nodded and left the room. Maya let out a shaky breath and ran her fingers back through her hair.

Zay gave her a hug. "I meant what I said. It's going to be okay. Lucas is probably back by now. You want me to go get him?"

"No," she replied, drawing back. "I have to figure this out first."

"Maya, he's not gonna react the way you're scared he will," he tried to assure her. "Yeah, he'll be shocked, and he'll probably have a few panic attacks in the next few days. But I know Lucas, and I know that he'll stand by you."

Maya shook her head. "You don't know how complicated this is, Zay."

"Okay. So why don't you tell me?"

She thought about it for a second. "You have to promise me that you won't repeat a word of what I tell you. I know I'm gonna have to tell everyone, but it just…it can't be right now."

Zay nodded. Keeping things quiet wasn't exactly a strength of his, but he figured it wouldn't be so hard to hold his tongue until Maya was ready to tell everyone herself. Of course he couldn't even _begin_ to guess the kind of information that he was about to come into contact with.


	4. Uncertain Times

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews!**

* * *

By the time Maya had finished telling the whole story, Zay was left utterly speechless. She'd said that the situation was complicated, but he couldn't believe how far in over her head she really was.

"You hate me now, right?" Maya looked down at the floor. "It's okay. It can't possibly be any more than I hate myself."

Zay shook his head. "Come on, I could never hate you. I'm not even mad at you. It's just hard to wrap my head around all this. You and Josh, Lucas and Riley."

"Except there wasn't a Lucas and Riley. I didn't even give them a chance to explain. I just assumed the worst. That's why I'm here right now."

"What were you supposed to think?" Zay wondered. "Maya, you saw them kissing. Any normal person would've assumed the same thing you did. No, you definitely didn't handle it the right way, but people do dumb things when they're upset."

Maya stood and began to pace the room. "Yeah, they do. They yell. They scream. They throw a vase at the wall. I got _pregnant_ , Zay. I mean, what am I supposed to do now? I'm sixteen! How can I possibly take care of a baby?"

Zay stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, you just need to breathe for a second. You do realize there are other alternatives to you raising this baby?"

"Not for me," she said, sighing. She could never go through with an abortion. The thought of taking the life of her own son or daughter—she would never be able to look at herself in the mirror again. Adoption was a better option, but she didn't like the idea of knowing she had a kid out there and never knowing where they were or if they were happy or being taken care of. She also couldn't stand the idea of them wondering why they weren't wanted. Maya had wondered that enough herself.

"This is my baby," she said, quietly.

Zay nodded. "Okay. If that's what you want, then we'll all be there to help you. You can pencil me in as a babysitter right now. I'll be like the cool uncle that takes him to basketball games and gives him a bunch of candy when you're not around."

"What if it's a girl?" Maya asked, slightly curious.

"A mini-Maya? As cute as she would be, I don't know if the world is ready for two of you. I'm just gonna choose to believe it's a boy for now."

Maya sat down. "It doesn't really matter. I'm gonna have the same exact problems either way."

"You're worried about how Lucas will take this," Zay said.

"I don't know if he'll forgive me. But even if he does, I can't ask him to deal with this."

"What if he wants to?" Zay wondered. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he's crazy about you and has been for a _very_ long time. What if he wants to get past this?"

Tears began to well up in her eyes. Of course she wanted to believe that Zay was right, that Lucas would understand and still want to be with her. But even if that were true, he deserved so much better than to be embroiled in this mess she had made.

"Maya? You do still want to be with Lucas, don't you?"

She nodded as she brushed away her tears. "But it's not that simple anymore. Do you really think he's gonna look at me the same when he finds out that I'm having a baby with another guy?" She closed her eyes. "Josh. Oh God. How am I going to tell him about this? He doesn't even remember what happened!"

"Well, look on the bright side. Once he finds out that he got you pregnant, he isn't likely to come within ten feet of any form of alcohol ever again," Zay pointed out.

Maya didn't disagree. She couldn't see Josh ever walking away from his baby, but she also couldn't see him being the least bit happy about having a kid at nineteen—and with her of all people. This was going to turn both of their lives upside down.

"And one little piece of advice," Zay said. "You'll probably want to tell Josh about this before you tell Lucas. Otherwise, your kid's daddy is gonna get a serious ass-kicking, and he won't even see it coming. Southern guys don't play when it comes to their girl."

* * *

Later that evening after Zay had left, Maya was curled up on the couch next to Lucas as a movie played on the TV. She wasn't paying any attention to it. She was just trying to soak up every moment that they had together, because she knew that these moments would likely end soon. And it was no one's fault but her own.

"You've been really quiet," Lucas noted.

Maya sat up, slowly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like finals?"

"What else?" she said, forcing a small smile.

Lucas smiled back. "Well, at least you won't be sick when we have to start studying. I'm actually surprised you haven't thrown that in my face—that I was wrong and you were right."

"Oh, Huckleberry. If I gloated every time I was right, I would bore myself."

"There are a lot of words I have used to describe you over the years. I can honestly say that boring has never been one of them." He took her hand in his. "I never know what's coming next with you. And you might be surprised to hear this, but that's one of the things I love most about you—about us."

She looked into his green eyes and shook her head. "I don't deserve you."

"What? Why would you think that?"

Maya took a shaky breath. "Because I messed up. And I should've told you about it a long time ago. I just thought I could pretend like it didn't happen, but I can't. Not anymore."

Lucas frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She looked away. She hadn't meant to say that much—not yet. But this secret had been weighing on her for weeks, and she _needed_ it to go away. She would leave Josh's name out of it for the time being, but she had to lay the rest of it out there.

"Do you remember when I confronted you because I thought you were cheating with Riley?"

He nodded. He still felt badly about that.

Maya sighed. "I was a mess that night. I was angry. I was hurt. I felt like I had lost two of the most important people in my whole life. I thought you and Riley had betrayed me. And I know that it wasn't what it looked like. I get it now. But that's how it felt at the time."

"Maya, I am _so_ sorry about that."

"No. Don't apologize. I have to say this. There was a guy that I ran into that night. I wasn't thinking straight, and he wasn't thinking straight. And he ended up kissing me. It helped get my mind off of you and Riley, so I didn't stop it. Lucas, I made such a big mistake."

Lucas shook his head. "It's okay. You don't have anything to feel guilty about. If I had seen what you saw, I wouldn't have been thinking straight either. I mean, I hate the idea of you with some other guy, but it was just a kiss, Maya. It's not that big of a deal."

She closed her eyes. "You don't understand…"

But as she was trying to finish explaining, Lucas' mother walked through the front door and Maya realized that the rest of the story would have to wait.

* * *

A few days later, Maya and Zay were walking over to Riley's for their study party. Well, if one could call it that. Farkle and Smackle had canceled at the last minute in favor of having a night with just the two of them, and Lucas was going to end up climbing through the window an hour or two late because of a family thing he had gotten roped into attending. But that at least gave Maya a chance to talk to the only person who knew what was going on in her screwed-up life.

"So you only told him like forty percent of the story?" Zay said, when she had finished her rant.

"I was thinking it was more along the lines of thirty percent."

He sighed. "And I'm assuming you still haven't talked to Josh?"

"If I had talked to Josh, I'm pretty sure that would've been the first thing I told you," Maya replied. "Look, he's going on this Florida trip with us. I'll tell him then."

"Oh, okay. Your grand plan is to blow up our entire vacation with your baby drama."

She crossed her arms. " _Fine_. Then I'll tell him when we get home. Is that better?"

"Better than Florida, yeah. But it sounds to me like you're just looking for a way to procrastinate," Zay noted. "And I hate to tell you, but your little bundle of joy isn't gonna stay hidden forever."

"Zay, I may have never been pregnant before, but I know what a pregnant woman looks like. Everyone will be well aware of this train wreck by the time I start showing, trust me."

By that point, they had come to Riley's bedroom window. Maya started to climb, but Zay grabbed her hand and led her a few feet away.

"What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed.

"I'm looking out for your kid, that's what I'm doing. You can't be climbing through windows when you're pregnant!"

Maya groaned. "You mean I have to use the front door for the next seven and a half _months_? And I thought the morning sickness sucked."

* * *

They proceeded to take the long way around to the front door. But Riley wasn't the one to let them in; Josh was. And needless to say, Maya was caught off guard by his presence. She'd forgotten that his classes had already ended, so he must be staying there now.

"Hey guys," Josh said, smiling at them. "I think Riley's in her room waiting for you."

Zay turned to Maya. "And I _just_ remembered that I need to talk to her about your Christmas present. So you just stay and chat with Josh here for a few minutes."

Maya glared at him, but he left the room anyway.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen anyone that buys Christmas presents in May," Josh commented. "Not a bad idea though. It would take a lot of the stress out of December."

Maya forced a smile, but she knew nothing could take the stress out of this December. Her due date was New Year's Day. God, Zay was right. She _had_ to find a way to tell Josh about this. He was so blissfully unaware of the mess that the two of them were now in.

 _After Florida. I'll tell him then. I will. I don't have a choice._

"Maya, are you okay?" Josh asked. "You seem kind of distracted."

"Yeah. I just have a lot going on right now. Finals, Florida, my mom's wedding. Nothing I can't handle."

He smiled. "I'm sure it isn't. You're one of the toughest people I know. You always have been."

"I've always had to be," she said, quietly. "I don't see that changing any time soon. But it's easier when you know you won't be alone."

"I don't think you ever have to worry about that. I won't even take the time to name off all the people I know that care about you. But just so you know, that list definitely includes me."

Maya fought back tears and hugged him. And for a brief moment, she allowed herself to think that things could somehow turn out okay. An idea that would be shattered in a few days' time on Florida's beautiful sandy beaches.


	5. Beach House

**A/N: Thanks so much for the feedback, guys!**

 **A few things:**

 **It seems like most of you either want Lucaya or Joshaya as the endgame couple, so I'll probably just keep Zaya as friends. And actually, I was leaning towards that anyway. You guys have a lot of control over which of the other two wins out in the end. I'm fine with either.**

 **Also, this will unfortunately be the only chapter I post this week. I have a ton of things going on, but I should have the next chapter up by Monday.**

* * *

One Week Later

The beach house that Cory and Topanga had rented was stunning. It had a large, open kitchen and living room. A sprawling second-story balcony with a gorgeous view of the beach. Even a pool of its own. Its one drawback was the thing that made it somewhat affordable—only four bedrooms. For ten people.

"Cory, you told me this place had room for everyone," Topanga complained. All the kids' parents had chipped in to help pay for this trip, and she was annoyed that her husband still hadn't found a place with sufficient space.

"Look at it, Topanga. It's huge!"

Riley frowned. "Dad, there's a king-size bed, a queen-size bed, and two bunk beds. Someone is going to be on the couch."

"That isn't going to be necessary," Cory assured her. "Auggie stays with Topanga and me. Zay and Lucas get one of the rooms with a bunk bed. Josh and Farkle get the other. You three girls squeeze into the other room. Problem solved."

"You think we can get three people into a queen-size?" Maya asked, eyebrow raised.

"Why not? You're all tiny!" Cory let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, so there weren't a whole lot of options available on short notice. But how often are you guys going to be sleeping anyway? We're in Florida! Let's go get out and enjoy it!"

* * *

While Riley and Smackle were unpacking, Maya was in the adjoining bathroom and looking closely at herself in the mirror. She'd bought her aqua bikini before she found out that she was pregnant, and although she knew it was impossible to tell, it still made her feel self-conscious. Slipping on her thin cover-up helped significantly.

She walked back into the bedroom. "Okay. I'm ready when you guys are."

Smackle nodded. "I'm ready, but I'm still concerned about the lack of lifeguards. And I'm also concerned about the snacks we had. You're supposed to wait an hour after eating before you swim."

Riley smiled. "You really have to try not to worry so much. Nothing is going to go wrong on this trip. Right, peaches?"

"Hope not," Maya answered, quite honestly.

They went on to meet up with everyone else and walk down to the beach. It was a beautiful day—warm and sunny with a cool breeze blowing through. After some swimming and a game of beach volleyball, the group splintered off in different directions. Cory and Topanga went back out into the water with Auggie. Farkle and Smackle turned their attention to building a sandcastle. Riley, Zay, and Josh went off to inquire about renting a couple of jet skis. And Maya walked hand in hand with Lucas along the sand.

"I used to come to the beach a lot when I was a kid," Lucas said, glancing out at the water. "Usually, it was just to Gulf Shores because it was closer, but it was kind of the highlight of my summers."

"I can see why. This place is pretty amazing," Maya admitted.

"Could you imagine waking up to it every day?"

Maya smiled. "No, not really. That would basically require me to become a millionaire. But now that I think about it, living comfortably in New York isn't much cheaper. I need to find someplace where I can lease an apartment for about a hundred dollars a month."

Lucas laughed. "I don't think that place exists. But at least we have a while before we start having to worry about all of that. The real responsibilities don't come until you graduate college. That's what my dad says anyway."

"I doubt that's how it is for everyone."

"Yeah, I do too." He stopped walking and looked into her eyes. "But I don't think there's anything I can't handle. Not as long as I have you."

She started to feel like she was about to cry and wasn't sure if it was the hormones or the fact that she loved Lucas and was scared to death of losing him. No matter how much she tried to prepare herself for that outcome, she still held onto a little bit of hope that they could somehow get through this.

"I love you," Maya said, quietly. "Can you promise me that you won't ever forget that?"

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her lips as the waves crashed against their feet.

* * *

Later, Maya and Riley were sitting on the edge of the pool with their feet dipped in the water. Most of the guys were out having a blast on the jet skis, and Maya would have been out there too if it didn't pose a risk to the baby. She was disappointed when her Google search advised against it.

"You want to go back?" Riley asked, noticing how Maya was watching the jet skis zip across the water out in the distance. The brunette was still slightly confused as to why her friend wasn't out there with them.

Maya shook her head. "I might throw up my lunch if I get on a jet ski with one of those Evel Knievel wannabes."

"They'll slow down if you ask them to." Riley had rode for a few minutes, before the guys started their speed demon competition.

"Nah. I'd rather chill with my best friend anyway."

Riley smiled. "I think we needed this trip. You know, I've been meaning to ask if there's something you want to talk about. You've been acting a little weird lately."

"Weird?" Maya repeated.

"Like you're off in your own world a lot. Is everything okay with you and Lucas?"

"Yeah. How could it not be?" Maya looked down and briefly considered what would happen if she told Riley the truth. It was hard to keep something this big from her best friend. However, she quickly realized that the risk was too great. Riley would find out soon enough anyway.

 _I just have to get through this trip. Everyone finds out everything the minute we get back home._

* * *

That night, the teens were gathered in the living room in a circle. There was nothing on TV and no one had brought any board games, so they had settled on a friendly game of Truth or Dare to pass the time. It was now Maya's turn, and there was one thing that she'd been wanting to know from her best friend for a while.

"Truth or dare, Riles?"

"Truth."

Maya smiled, having expected that answer. "Is there or is there not someone at school that you like?" she asked.

Riley's cheeks heated up. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Maybe isn't an answer, niece," Josh said.

Farkle nodded. "And this game _was_ your idea."

Riley sighed. "Okay. Yes, there is someone. But I'm not telling any of you who it is!" After a few wrong guesses from her friends, Riley glanced around the circle for effect, but she knew who she was going back to.

"Maya. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

The brunette thoughtfully tapped her finger against her chin. "Let's see. I dare you to go out on the balcony and sing a Taylor Swift song as loud as you can."

Maya rolled her eyes and smiled. She always felt safe picking dare when it was coming from Riley. She proceeded to go belt out "Style," which greatly amused her friends and the people on the neighboring balconies. Then the game went a few more turns until it got to Zay.

"Josh. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Oh, hang on then. I was kind of thinking you would pick dare." He appeared to consider for a few moments. "I got nothing. Let's just go with one of those dumb future questions. How many kids you see yourself having?"

Maya glared at Zay. She knew that he was trying to get an answer from Josh that would reassure her, but she would've preferred just leaving the subject alone for the time being.

"Zay. You really couldn't have come up with a better question than that?" Lucas asked.

"Hey, I can't complain. It's a lot easier than most of you guys' questions," Josh said with a smile. "I don't know though. I don't even want to _think_ about kids anytime soon."

Riley smiled. "So I shouldn't be expecting a new cousin in the near future, huh?"

He shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint, but you have a better chance of winning the lottery than hearing some kid call me daddy at any point during the next six to seven years."

Maya sat there trying to pretend that she wasn't affected by his words. She hadn't expected him to want this baby. Very few guys would at this stage of their lives. But to hear him actually say as much…how could she possibly tell him now, knowing how he would feel?

* * *

That night, Maya lay awake for hours considering what she was going to do. When the clock on the nightstand read 2:17 a.m., she finally got out of bed, careful not to wake Riley or Smackle. She walked down the hall to Lucas and Zay's room and was very glad at that moment that her boyfriend was a heavy sleeper.

"Zay?" she said, quietly. When he didn't stir, she shook him. "Zay, wake up!"

His eyes fluttered open, and he gave her a confused look. "What are you doing in here?"

"Shhh! I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait till tomorrow?" Zay complained.

Maya crossed her arms. "It _is_ tomorrow."

Zay grumbled beneath his breath, but he did follow Maya out to the balcony. Though he wasn't fully awake until he stubbed his toe on a table on the way outside.

"This had better be important!" he said, still in pain, when she closed the French doors.

"I'm not telling Josh about the baby."

Zay looked at her in disbelief. " _What_? Is this about that dumb game? Look, I'm sorry I asked him about the kid thing. I didn't know he'd come up with the worst answer possible. But you still got to tell him!"

"Why?" Maya asked, shaking her head. "What is the point in ruining his life? That's what this would do. He doesn't want to be my baby's father, and I'm not gonna trap him in a situation that he doesn't want to be in."

"And what do you plan on telling everybody when they ask who the father is?"

She shrugged, hopelessly. "I don't know. But I have a few days to come up with something."

"To come up with a _lie_ ," Zay pointed out. "And if I learned anything from my grandma's soap operas, it's that lies never end well. You want me to tell you what happened when Sami decided not to tell EJ she was pregnant? I won't go into details, but there was a baby switch, a kidnapping, a broken-up wedding, a custody fight, and an attempted murder."

Maya sighed. "Do you think I want to lie about this? I'm _sick_ of lying. I wouldn't do this if it was just some random guy. But it's Josh, and I can't live with knowing he's miserable because of _my_ decision to keep a baby that he doesn't even remember making! Zay, we are the only two people in the world that know the truth. I need you to swear that you won't say anything."

Zay looked into her pleading eyes and wished more than anything that he wasn't involved in this. On the one hand, this wasn't any of his business to blab to anybody else. But on the other hand, he knew that Maya was making a big mistake by introducing lies into an already complicated situation, even if it was a well-intentioned lie.

"Maya, I can't let you do this," he finally said. "Josh is the father! You can't just not tell him!"

"I'm doing him a favor! Didn't you hear him say that he doesn't even want to think about having kids? He's not going to want this baby!"

"Okay, you need to listen to me right now. You know I love you, but I'm not keeping this secret for the rest of my life. If you're scared to say anything because Josh won't want the baby, then you just have to make him change his mind."

"In four days?" Maya said, her eyes widening. "How am I supposed to do that? I need more time!"

Zay let out a frustrated sigh. "You don't _have_ time. Look, I get it. You're scared. But you aren't alone! I can almost promise that no one you love is going to walk away from you!"

"Even Lucas?" she asked, quietly. "Can you promise me that I won't lose him?"

He couldn't give her a definite answer to that, so he just gave her a hug and tried to stop the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks.

Neither of them noticed that one of the other houseguests was in the living room and watching them with concern and curiousity from the other side of the glass.


	6. A Secret No Longer

**A/N: Thanks for your patience, everyone, and a special thanks for all your awesome reviews!**

 **So we have absolutely no agreement on which pairing you guys want to be endgame lol. That's fine, still a long way to go before we get to that point. But you should be warned that there will be a whole lot of drama and angst before the happy ending, no matter who you're rooting for. Be prepared. :)**

* * *

Maya had learned one thing about morning sickness by now. It didn't care if your friends were nearby or if you were in one of the most beautiful places in the entire country. It was going to hit whenever it wanted, and all you could do was hope there was an available toilet close by.

Luckily, Riley was just coming out of the bathroom when Maya had to dart into it. She was too busy puking her guts up to care that Riley and Smackle were in the bedroom exchanging concerned glances.

"I'm worried about her," Riley said, sitting down on the bed next to Smackle. "She was like this a few weeks ago, but I thought it was just bad food. Maybe she really is sick this time."

Smackle frowned. "I don't think an illness is the problem. Farkle and I were just discussing this yesterday. She hasn't been herself lately."

Riley nodded. "Like when she wouldn't get on one of the jet skis. Maya loves stuff like that."

"That isn't all. Have you noticed how peculiar her appetite has become?"

"It's hard _not_ to notice that," Riley said, shaking her head. Maya's cookie dough problem was getting seriously out of control, but there were other things too. She suddenly didn't want anything to do with tuna. She actually asked the lady in McDonalds if they had syrup she could use for her chicken sandwich. Just weird stuff that made absolutely no sense.

"There were also the bathroom stops on the way down here," Smackle went on. "It was nearly always Maya that needed to stop. But she wasn't consuming any more liquids than the rest of us. Riley, these are all classic symptoms of pregnancy."

Riley was stunned by the other girl's suggestion. The idea that Maya could be pregnant seemed so…far-fetched. They were too young to even be considering it as a possibility. Besides, Riley knew her best friend. If Maya _was_ having sex, she would be on birth control.

But Riley also couldn't deny that Maya's symptoms did point in the direction of pregnancy. The brunette just prayed that there was another explanation.

At that moment, Maya walked out of the bathroom. And she could immediately tell by the looks that her two friends were giving her that they were very worried for her.

"I'm fine," she said, casually. "You guys don't have to look at me like I've got the plague or something. Probably just one of those 24-hour bugs."

Riley slowly stood up. "Maya, are you pregnant?" she asked, quietly.

After her shock subsided, the question came as almost a relief to the blonde. She didn't have to spit out the words; all she had to do was force a slight nod. That was all it took, and Riley quickly went to hug her. The two girls held on to each other tightly until Riley finally drew back.

"It's going to be okay. I promise."

Smackle stepped up. "She's right. We'll help you—all of us. If you've even decided what to do about this yet."

"It wasn't a tough decision," Maya replied. "I'm gonna be a mom, and it scares me more than anything's ever scared me in my whole life. But it's the only option that I could live with."

Riley slowly sat down on the bed. "My best friend is having a baby. Wow. It might take me a little while to get used to this."

"Imagine being the one with the baby inside of you."

"I would prefer not to imagine that," Smackle admitted.

Riley nodded in agreement. "Maya, how did this happen? I mean, I know _how_ it happened but…"

"It was one time," Maya said, cutting her off. "It wasn't planned, but one night…things just went too far. I didn't even think about whether we were being safe or not. How big of an idiot does that make me?"

Smackle shrugged. "Lucas was equally at fault."

"Have you told him yet?" Riley wondered. "Does he know?"

While Maya was relieved that two more of her friends now knew of her pregnancy, she had no idea how she was going to explain the complicated situation to them. She decided to just take it one question at a time for now.

"No. He doesn't."

"You're afraid to tell him," Riley said, picking up on her anxiety. "Maya, you shouldn't be. Lucas is a really great guy. He would never leave you or his baby."

For the first time, Maya was actually grateful when a second wave of nausea sent her running back to the bathroom. She would have a few more moments to consider how she wanted to handle her friends' assumption.

* * *

Josh was in the kitchen having a snack and thinking about what he had seen last night. He couldn't get that image of Maya out of his head. She'd seemed so upset, to the point where she'd started to cry. God, he hated seeing her that way. He'd been so tempted to go outside and see what the hell was going on, but the conversation between her and Zay just looked like it was meant for their ears only.

And now he was more curious than ever. Maybe not for long though, he thought as Lucas walked into the room.

" _That_ is probably a good idea," Lucas said, motioning to the cup of cookie dough bites that was on the counter in front of Josh. "I'm not sure why, but Maya's obsessed with those things now. If you're planning on eating them later, I wouldn't leave them lying around."

Josh smiled. "Yeah, I'm starting to figure that out." He glanced into the living room to see if anyone was around before he turned back to Lucas, who was now unpeeling a banana. "Look, I don't know how much you know, but something is going on with Maya."

Lucas looked at him, curiously. "What is it?"

"No idea. I saw her and Zay talking last night—she looked like she was pretty upset about something. I thought you might know what it is."

Lucas shook his head. He didn't know what Maya would possibly be upset about. As far as he knew, everything in her life was going really well right now. But after a few minutes, he decided to go to her room and check on her for himself.

"Maya, do you want me to go get Lucas?" The girls' bedroom door was closed, but he could distinguish that voice as Riley's. "We can be here with you when you tell him if that'll make it easier."

There was a brief silence before he heard Maya's voice from the other side of the door. "Nothing could make telling him this any easier."

"Are we the only people that know?" This voice was Smackle's.

"Just you guys and Zay." There was a pause in her voice. "But Zay knows the whole story. You guys only know part of it."

"What do we not know?" Riley's voice again.

He heard Maya sigh. "It's complicated. You'll know everything soon. But for right now, I just need you guys not to say anything to Lucas or anyone else. Please."

* * *

Lucas was understandably concerned after what Josh had told him and even more so after what he had overheard of the girls' conversation. Which was why he quickly went to Zay and talked him into going down to the beach for a few minutes.

Once they got down there, Zay looked around. "I thought you said there were a bunch of swimsuit models having a photo shoot!" he complained.

Lucas shook his head. "That was to get you out of the house. I need to talk to you about Maya. I know something is going on with her, Zay. Something that she doesn't want to tell me. And I know you know what it is."

"How do you know that?" Zay asked, cautiously.

"Because I heard her telling Riley and Smackle that. That you know the whole story and they don't. And besides, Josh saw you two last night."

Zay closed his eyes. "You can't be serious right now. Did he hear anything?"

Lucas crossed his arms. "Considering he was asking me if I knew what was going on with Maya, I could guess he probably didn't. What is this big secret? Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"That depends on your definition of trouble. Look, I wish I could tell you what's going on, but Maya's got me sworn to secrecy. This is something you need to hear from her anyway."

That did not reassure Lucas in the least.

Zay sighed. "She'll tell you soon, okay? But until she does, just remember that she loves you. You have a great girl, and you're gonna want to think twice before you let her go."

"There's nothing Maya could tell me that would make me do that," Lucas said, sincerely. He'd known going into this relationship that Maya had a tendency to get herself into sticky situations every now and then. Whatever this one involved, he was sure he could help her get out of it.

* * *

That afternoon, everyone agreed to go to an amusement park that was located only a few miles from the beach house. Maya wasn't particularly looking forward to it because she would have to avoid all the fun rides, which royally sucked. However, Riley and Smackle assured her that they would stick to the gentle rides, as they tended to prefer that type anyway.

She didn't know that gentle meant the Merry-Go-Round.

"Okay, this is lame for most _kids_ ," Maya complained. "You guys couldn't even let me get on one of the horses!"

Riley sighed from the other side of the bench. "You could fall, Maya. We don't want you or the baby getting hurt."

"All I would have to do is hold on to the pole!"

The Merry-Go-Round passed Lucas, Zay, Josh, and Farkle, who were waiting for them to get off and looking quite amused. Maya buried her head in her hands. This was so embarrassing. Shortly after the ride ended, the guys approached them.

"We were going to ask if any of you wanted to go bungee jumping with us, but I think we can safely assume that you aren't interested," Josh commented.

"That would be a safe assumption," Maya agreed.

Lucas put his arm around her. "Can I at least talk you into going on the roller coaster? I've already watched it, and I promise it doesn't go upside down."

Farkle nodded. "It does look pretty harmless. What do you say, Isadora?"

Smackle looked at Riley and Maya. "That does sound enjoyable. Do you guys mind?"

"Nah, go have fun," Maya said, waving the two of them off. Frankly, she wouldn't mind if they all went off to ride something so she could find time to get some snacks. More specifically, some ice cream. It had to be ninety degrees that day.

"Maya?" Lucas said, giving her a hopeful smile that made her want to say yes so badly.

Zay stepped in. "I think the girls just want to do their own thing today. But I'll go ride it with you, bro."

"Yeah, we'll meet up with you guys in a little while," Riley said, giving a quick glance to Maya. As Lucas and Zay walked off, Riley noticed her parents and Auggie in line for more tickets. "I'll be right back," she told Maya and Josh. "I'm just going to see if I can get a few more tickets. We're running low."

They watched her walk away before Josh turned back to Maya. "And then there were two. Don't worry, I won't leave you by yourself. Bungee jumping can wait a few more minutes."

"I'm more important than bungee jumping, huh? I'm flattered, but you can go ahead if you want. I was gonna go find some ice cream anyway."

But as soon as she had said that, she suddenly felt very lightheaded and dizzy.

"Maya?" Josh said, slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm…fine," she managed to say.

And then everything went black.

* * *

An hour later, Zay was carrying out a cup of coffee from the hospital's coffee shop when Lucas approached him with a giant stuffed teddy bear under his arm. No one could ever say Lucas wasn't a good boyfriend.

"Seriously?" Zay asked, eyebrow raised. "Maya's not sick, man. She passed out because she was dehydrated. They'll probably release her tonight."

"Yeah, I know. But it still scares me to see her in this place. Can you give her this if she wakes up before I get back?" He handed over the teddy bear to Zay. "I'm just running across the street to pick up some sandwiches for everybody. You want meatball marinara, right?"

Zay nodded and then let out a sigh as he watched his friend walk through the sliding doors. He made his way back up to the floor that Maya was being held on, but he stopped when he encountered the woman that he recognized as Maya's doctor.

"Hey. Dr. Palen, right?"

"Yes. You're with Maya's group, aren't you?" She smiled at the teddy bear he was holding. "The boyfriend, I'm guessing? You do know she's going to be fine, don't you? It was just a case of dehydration. It's actually quite common during the summer. And with her being from New York and not being used to the weather down here…"

"No, I get all that. Look, I don't know if y'all have figured this out yet, but Maya's pregnant. It's still early, like two months maybe. But when she wakes up, she's gonna want to know if her baby's okay."

The doctor nodded. "Maya and the baby are both fine, no need to worry. One of Maya's friends has actually already asked me about that. She and the baby are both lucky to have so many people looking out for them."

Zay gave her a relieved smile. "Yeah. They always will have us."

* * *

It was several minutes later when Maya opened her eyes to an unfamiliar, sterile room filled with all of her friends plus Riley's parents. She was confused at first to realize that she was in a hospital room. But then her mind immediately jumped to the worst possible reason that she could've been there.

"W-What happened?" she stammered.

"Hey, everything's okay," Lucas assured her. "You got dehydrated, and you passed out."

"The doctor says you'll be fine, honey," Topanga chimed in.

Riley smiled. "Thank goodness Uncle Josh was there to catch you before you hit the concrete and gave yourself a concussion."

"I was just in the right place at the right time," Josh said, shrugging.

"Well, I'm really glad you were," Maya said, softly. She turned her gaze to Zay and Riley, who were standing next to one another. "So…everything's okay?"

"Everything," Zay promised.

Maya couldn't believe how relieved she was to hear that. She hadn't wanted to be pregnant. Not at her age, not by these circumstances. But those few moments when she thought she might have lost her baby—she didn't want to feel that kind of terror ever again.

"You need to see what Lucas got you," Riley said as she picked up the giant teddy bear and placed it on top of Maya. "This is for when you get dehydrated. I'd hate to see what you'd get if something was actually wrong with you."

Maya understood the message that Riley was trying to send her. _He loves you. Tell him the truth, and trust that he'll be there for you._ And she would if things were truly as simple as Riley thought they were.

She looked back at Lucas and forced a smile. "You are way too good to me."

"I'm glad you think so. It means I'm being the boyfriend you deserve," he responded.

Topanga smiled at Cory. "Aren't they adorable? Okay. Come on, everyone. I think we should give Maya and Lucas some time to themselves."

But as the group started to head for the door, Maya's doctor came into the room and smiled at everyone. "Wow, we have a full house in here. I was just telling your boyfriend, Maya…" She glanced at Zay. "…you are one lucky girl to have all of these people in your corner."

"I know," she said, handing Lucas the teddy bear so she could see the doctor clearly.

"She's ready to get out of here, isn't she?" Cory asked. "We're kind of on vacation right now."

The doctor nodded. "I see no reason why Maya needs to stay overnight. She looks perfectly fine now. But you guys do need to make sure she stays properly hydrated, especially with her being pregnant. It's very important that the baby…"

"Whoa, hang on a second," Josh said, putting his hand up. "Did you just say Maya is _pregnant_?"

Lucas shook his head. "You guys must have gotten her charts mixed up with someone else's."

The doctor looked around at the shocked faces in the room, mixed in with a couple of not-so-shocked faces. "I'm sorry. I just assumed that everyone already knew."

Maya closed her eyes in defeat, for she knew that the next few minutes would be some of the hardest of her life.


	7. Mistaken Identity

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited this story! Seriously, I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it.**

 **So I re-wrote this chapter three times. I still don't really like it because I'm pretty sure there's some OOC-ness going on, but I didn't want to leave you guys waiting on a cliffhanger while I re-wrote it yet again.**

* * *

Though most of their initial reactions were denial, it became clear to anyone who looked back at Maya that this was true. She was looking down, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Trying to figure out how in the hell she was going to explain this.

"Maya, you're…pregnant?" Farkle asked, eyes wide.

"You're sure about this?" Cory looked to the doctor for confirmation. "There's no doubt at all?"

"No. I'll uh, give you all some time." The doctor sent an apologetic look to Maya and then left the room.

Maya gathered her courage and slowly turned to Lucas, who looked absolutely stunned.

"Lucas, I am _so_ sorry," she said, quietly.

"You don't have to be sorry, Maya," Riley assured her. "He just needs some time for this to sink in. But Lucas? Like I told Maya, we're all going to be here for you guys. We'll help you get through this."

"Riley, how long have you known about this?" Topanga wondered.

"Since this morning," the brunette admitted.

"This is the big secret," Lucas said, still in an obvious state of disbelief. "You're…oh my God…" He sank down into the nearest chair.

Maya looked around at everyone. "I really need to talk to him."

Everyone began to stream out of the room, probably anxious to go discuss all of this amongst themselves. When the door shut, Maya took a shaky breath and turned back to her boyfriend. This was the moment she'd been dreading.

"I tried to tell you before," she said. "Do you remember? The night I was so messed up because I thought you were cheating with Riley? I told you that there was someone else. That's when this happened."

His green eyes reflected how shocked and betrayed he felt, and it was all Maya could do to keep looking into them.

"It was only one time. And it's been eating me up inside since the second I realized that I was wrong about what I saw. But I didn't know what to do! I didn't want to risk losing you. And I didn't know if you would ever be able to understand. So then I thought if I could just keep it a secret long enough, it would be like it never happened. I guess karma had other ideas about that though."

Lucas continued to stare at her as her gaze dropped to her hands. He was still so stunned that he didn't know if he could form a coherent sentence, and if he could, he didn't know what it would be. He didn't want to get angry with Maya. What would that accomplish anyway?

But what was his other option? Tell her that he understands, that he forgives her? He wasn't prepared to do that either. He _didn't_ understand. His head was still spinning, wondering how a kiss for a dumb project could've resulted in his girlfriend sleeping with another guy.

Maya looked at him again. "I don't expect you to forgive me. And I definitely don't expect you to want to be with me now." Tears started to well up in her eyes. "But I need you to know that I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

After a few agonizing moments of silence had passed, her expression was now desperate. "Please just say something. Whatever it is, I can take it."

There was only one thing that Lucas could force out.

"Who is he?"

"It's complicated," Maya whispered. "But it doesn't matter right now anyway. This is between you and me. It doesn't involve him."

Lucas shook his head. "How can you say that? He's the reason we're sitting here having to deal with this at all!" Struggling to keep his composure, he stood and began to pace the floors. The shock was beginning to subside, but it was being quickly replaced by raw anger that he was having a hard time pushing down.

Maya followed him with her eyes. "Lucas, you don't know how it was. I can _promise_ you that he didn't mean for this to happen any more than I did."

"Look at yourself, Maya! Do you see how beautiful you are? Throw in the fact that you were upset and vulnerable, and this guy probably thought he had won the lottery!"

"No! He isn't like that!" she insisted.

But as soon as those words escaped her lips, she knew that she would have to tell him the truth. Because that statement had just confirmed what Lucas was fearing—that this person was someone she knew, which meant that it was more than likely someone he knew too.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "You have to promise me that you'll give me a chance to talk to him. Please don't go downstairs and try to ambush him. That won't fix anything."

"Downstairs?" he repeated. "He's _here_?"

"Yeah," Maya said, avoiding his gaze.

It took no time at all for the pieces to start clicking together in Lucas' mind, and they all pointed to one conclusion. One that sent him storming out of the room before Maya even got a chance to confirm what he was now sure he already knew.

* * *

All the other teens had congregated in the courtyard area downstairs, where Zay had taken on the unpleasant task of warning everyone of the fireworks that were likely to come in the next few minutes. Maya needed to be the one to give them the details, especially Josh, so Zay just stopped at, "Lucas isn't the father."

"This doesn't make any sense!" Riley lamented. "Maya loves Lucas. She wouldn't just cheat on him. Zay, what else are you not telling us?"

"Sorry, I'm not saying another word. You'll have to ask Maya."

"Actually, this does make sense in a way," Smackle admitted. "Maya did say we didn't know the whole story. It also explains why she was so worried about telling Lucas."

"Do you guys think he'll forgive her?" Farkle wondered.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, because no one knew what the answer to that question would be. They all knew that Lucas loved Maya, but the fact that she was having someone else's baby? That would be hard for anyone to get past.

Riley finally sighed. "I think we could all understand if Lucas breaks up with Maya because of this. But there's a lot we don't know. The one thing I do know is that she's my best friend. I don't care who her baby's father is. I'm not walking away from her."

Her statement earned several nods of agreement. Everyone wanted to support Maya. They wanted to be there for Lucas too. It would just be tricky to find a way to do both if this pregnancy did in fact tear the two of them apart. No one wanted to see that happen.

"So you really have no idea who the father could be?" Farkle asked Riley. It was well-known that Maya let things slip to Riley more often than anyone else, even if Riley didn't notice it at the time.

"No," Riley answered, regretfully. "There was never another guy in the picture—not romantically anyway. That's why this is so confusing."

Josh looked down as he had a hazy flashback of his own kiss with Maya—something he seriously doubted his niece knew anything about. And now there was this? Obviously, Maya didn't confide in Riley as much as everyone thought.

"I just hope Maya knows who the guy is," he commented. "He should have to take some responsibility for that kid."

Zay had drifted a few feet away and was glancing out at the parking lot while the others continued their conversation. He couldn't stop himself from wondering what was going on with Lucas and Maya at that moment. As much as he wanted to hope for the best, he had a bad feeling that tonight wasn't going to end well for anyone.

He went back to the others and looked at Riley. "Your parents are in the waiting room with Auggie, right? Maybe one of them could go make sure everything's okay with Maya and Lucas?"

"I think that might be a good idea." Riley pulled out her phone and started to text her mom, when Farkle noticed Lucas walking towards them and stood up.

"Lucas. Zay told us."

"Oh yeah? He told you everything?" There was a stormy look in Lucas' eyes that left everyone a little taken aback, despite the fact that they were expecting it. It was just so rare to see Lucas look anything like this. Zay briefly worried that Maya may have gone ahead and told him about her and Josh.

But then he realized that Josh wasn't the one on the receiving end of Lucas' stare.

He was.

"How could you do it?" Lucas asked, his voice shaking with anger. "You call yourself my friend! And then you do this? How have you even been able to look me in the eye when you've been keeping this secret?"

Zay frowned. "Lucas, I didn't want to keep anything from you. But Maya…"

"Maya wanted to keep the secret. Right? And the two of you would've. I would've never known if she hadn't gotten pregnant."

Zay was too confused to respond, so Lucas went on.

"I can't believe I didn't guess it from the second I found out. It was staring me right in the face. You are the only one who knew. Even when Maya told Riley, it was only half the truth. But you—you knew everything. And I asked you about it. You could've been honest with me then! But you weren't. Because you didn't want me to find out any more than Maya did!"

Riley slowly stood up. "Lucas, what are you saying?"

Lucas glanced at her for a moment and then looked back at Zay. "You want to tell them the truth? You want to tell them why you're the only one who knew Maya's secret? I mean, you probably already told that doctor. That's why she thought you were Maya's boyfriend, isn't it?"

Farkle's eyes widened. "Are you saying…"

"Oh my God," Josh breathed.

Zay stared at Lucas, in utter disbelief of what he was insinuating.

"Is that what Maya told you?" he demanded. "That _I'm_ her baby's father?"

"Don't try and deny it, Zay! Look at everyone else." Lucas motioned to the other four people, who all looked shell-shocked. "They were clueless. But I can tell just by looking at you that you're trying to hide something. Well, you don't have to hide it anymore. It's out now."

Zay shook his head. "No, you just need to listen for a second."

"No. I can't be here for another second."

With that, Lucas walked off, ignoring everyone's attempts to stop him. He was starting to realize how Maya must have felt when she saw him with Riley. Completely and utterly betrayed.

* * *

Maya had been released and was getting ready to leave her hospital room, but she was extremely nervous about the firestorm that she was about to be stepping into. Of course she'd known that she would have to deal with the fallout from her pregnancy eventually, but she wasn't even close to being ready for it. She didn't even want to think about what was probably happening downstairs.

 _But I'm the reason it's happening. I have to deal with it._

Maya took a deep breath and headed for the door, but then it opened and Zay walked in. He shut the door behind him, and she immediately noted that he did not look pleased with her.

She frowned. "How bad was it?"

"Not really the most pleasant experience of my life," Zay answered as he crossed his arms. "It's not every day that I get accused of knocking up my best friend's girlfriend."

Maya looked at him, confused. "What?"

"Oh, don't play with me. You know exactly what. I can't _believe_ you told Lucas I'm your baby's father!"

"That's because I didn't. I basically told him that it was you, Josh, or Farkle. He didn't stick around long enough for me to say which one. I just kind of assumed he would go demand to know which one of you it was, and you would spill your guts."

Zay shook his head. "Well, that is not what went down. And all because I was the one that was unlucky enough to know about all this drama. Let me tell you, I am never going to the doctor with another girl again. I don't care how much free pizza someone offers me."

"You did tell Lucas he was wrong?" she asked, slowly.

"Yeah, I tried. He wouldn't listen! Look, you need to come clean right now. I know I said I wouldn't tell your secret, but I'm not about to let everybody keep thinking that this is my baby. It's truth time."

Maya was quiet for a moment, and it didn't take Zay very long to figure out what she had in her head.

"Oh no. Don't even think about it," he warned, taking a step back. "Didn't you hear what I _just_ said?"

"It wouldn't be for long!" she insisted. "You already made me agree to tell Josh, even when we both _know_ he's not gonna want this baby. So can't you at least buy me a little time to ease him into the idea? I mean, maybe you were right. Maybe I can change his mind about kids. But I can't do it overnight!"

Zay looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "Why me?"

"And think about the baby for a second. The last thing he or she needs is me being constantly stressed out, right? If you do this, I have one less thing to stress over," Maya pointed out.

" _Or_ you could go get the stress out of the way right now," Zay suggested. "Come on, Maya! Let Josh have his meltdown, and then you two can figure all this out. Putting this off isn't doing anybody any favors. I mean, what do you want to do? Tell him when you're in labor and have him flip out then?"

She sighed. "Of course not. But I can only deal with so much at one time, Zay! Lucas is going to be breaking up with me any minute, which he should. I would break up with me too. But knowing he deserves better than me isn't going to make it one bit easier. Oh, and then I still get to look forward to seeing my parents' faces when they realize just how big of a screw-up I am. They'll never look at me the same way again after this. And neither will any of my friends. That's what I have to learn to live with. So don't you think these next few weeks are going to be hard enough without throwing Josh into the mix on top of everything else? Especially when I know he doesn't even want to be there? Look, I told you I'd tell him, but I'm just asking you to buy me a little extra time to try and sort all this out first."

Zay shook his head. He already knew he was going to regret this.

"You owe me," he finally said. "I'll play along with this for the rest of the summer. But if you haven't come clean by the time school starts back, then I will."

Maya nodded. "Deal."

* * *

 **A/N: Hmmm, can't imagine any way that this could possibly go wrong. Lol.**

 **If you're a Lucaya fan, don't worry too much. They're far from over. If you're a Joshaya fan, be patient. This isn't going to drag out for very long, and I have my reasons for it.**

 **Also, do you guys want the baby to be a boy or a girl? I haven't decided yet, so feel free to tell me what you want. :)**


	8. Worth Fighting For

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews/follows/favorites!**

* * *

Needless to say, the vacation was pretty much over after Maya's pregnancy was revealed. She was back home now, waiting for her mom to take a seat on the couch. Shawn was already sitting there and looking a little anxious. Rightfully so, unfortunately. He and Katy didn't know about the pregnancy yet. Riley's parents had said that they wouldn't say anything because this was Maya's news to tell. She wasn't able to talk them into going ahead and spilling the beans for her.

"I'm coming, sweetie," Katy announced as she walked out of the laundry room, having just finished loading the dryer. She then sat down on the couch next to Shawn. "Now what's this news of yours?"

Maya stood in front of them, trying to think of the best way she could possibly break the news.

"You guys are _really_ not going to like this," she warned.

Shawn frowned. "I'm already nervous. That doesn't help."

"Oh, I'm sure it isn't that bad." Katy motioned for Maya to come sit between them. "Come on, baby. Tell us what's going on."

Maya sat down between them, but she kept her eyes on her lap. "I don't guess it really matters if I start by telling you this was an accident, because accidents cost just as much as non-accidents. But I'll get a job, I promise. I'll help as much as I can with money."

That was enough of a hint for Shawn. "Oh God. This isn't happening. I'm just paranoid, right? You're not saying what I'm scared you're saying."

"You mean you know what she's saying?" Katy asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think I'm going to need a few more details. Maya, what kind of accident are you talking about?"

Biting her lip, she lifted her gaze to meet her mom's. "The kind you carry for nine months and then raise for eighteen years."

Katy froze, and Shawn shook his head in disbelief.

"I _knew_ nothing good was going to come from you having a boyfriend," he said as he stood and went to fetch his phone from a nearby table. "He'd better hope his phone's close by, or I'm going over there."

"No, don't!" Maya said, quickly. "There's more to it."

Katy put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Home tests can be wrong. We need to get this confirmed by a doctor before we start panicking."

"I found out at the doctor," Maya informed her.

Shawn glanced at Katy as he paced the floors. "I don't understand! I did everything right! You know how many times I've warned Lucas of what would happen if he got Maya pregnant?"

"Lucas didn't get me pregnant," Maya said, looking at Shawn. "He's not the father. Which is why he's been avoiding me since he found out. He's probably still trying to figure out how he wants to break up with me."

"Wait, Lucas _isn't_ the father? Then who is?" Katy wondered.

Maya sighed. She didn't want to lie to them. But Zay had agreed to help her out, so it was what was best for now. Everyone would understand why she did it later. Or maybe they wouldn't. Actually, they probably wouldn't. She'd deal with that later too.

"Zay," she finally answered.

Shocked, Shawn sat down again. " _Zay?_ Your friend? Lucas' friend?"

"It was one time. I thought Lucas was cheating on me. He wasn't. But I was upset, and yeah, that's pretty much how this happened. So basically, I'm the world's biggest idiot."

Katy let out a shaky breath. "Okay. It's going to be alright. We'll figure this out." She looked at Shawn. "Right? We'll figure this out?"

"Yeah, we'll figure this out," he replied. "Starting with Maya getting Zay over here in the next fifteen minutes. I want to hear exactly what he has to say..." He suddenly stopped. "You know, actually on second thought, I don't. I think it's best if he doesn't come anywhere near me for a while."

"I think that's best too," Katy agreed. She turned her gaze back to Maya. "Oh my God. I have so many questions. Let's just start with the most important one. Are you one-hundred percent sure that you want to keep this baby?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know babies are expensive, but…"

Katy shook her head. "We can figure that out, but that's not all there is to being a parent. You have to be ready to make this little boy or girl your first priority. And that is not as easy as it sounds, especially for someone your age. You know I would never suggest ending the pregnancy, but are you sure you wouldn't want to look into adoption? There are a lot of wonderful people out there just waiting for a little baby to love."

"I know," Maya replied. "But I can't do it, mom. I can't just hand my baby over to somebody else. I know I would regret it, and I already have enough regrets as it is. So I might not be ready yet, but I'll get there."

"What does Zay think?" Shawn asked. His tone indicated how annoyed he was that he even had to ask what the boy who got Maya pregnant thought about the whole thing.

"He supports my decision," Maya answered, truthfully.

There were a few moments of silence before Shawn sighed. "Okay. Then I guess we'll have to get used to having a new baby around. Because we love you, and if this is really what you want, we're going to be there for you every step of the way."

Maya was so relieved to hear those words that she actually allowed herself to smile as she hugged him. Katy soon joined in on the hug too. After they all finally broke apart, she took Maya's hand in her own.

"I am worried about what this means for your future. But this is your child, so I understand all too well. And I want you to know that this baby is going to be so loved. I think all of us together will be able to give him or her a pretty great family."

"I hope so," Maya whispered.

* * *

The minute that Lucas climbed through Riley's window, he knew he'd been set up. Sitting on the floor were Riley, Farkle, and Smackle, and it was clear that they were waiting to hold some kind of makeshift counseling session for him.

He crossed his arms. "I should've known you guys would do something like this. I really hope you didn't lure Maya or Zay here too."

"That did cross our minds," Riley admitted. "But we didn't think you were ready to hash this out with them just yet. So you can hash this out with us instead."

She motioned to an empty spot on the floor that closed the circle between Riley and Smackle, and Lucas reluctantly sat down there. Mostly because he didn't see the point in fighting them.

"You still love Maya," Farkle said. It was a statement, not a question. Lucas chose to take it as the latter though.

"Yeah. You can't just cut off your feelings for someone."

"And can I presume that if I were to look in your phone, it would still have Zay listed as a contact?" Smackle asked.

Lucas nodded. "As many times as he's tried to call me, I have to have him listed so I'll know not to pick up."

Riley sighed. "Lucas, we're all friends here. You have every right to be mad, but you need to fix this with them. I mean, you and me _are_ partially to blame for all of this. Maya wouldn't be pregnant right now if she hadn't seen us kissing."

"I still don't know why you guys felt the need to do that just to get a high grade," Farkle commented.

Lucas ignored his remark. "Riley, _we_ are in no way responsible for what Maya and Zay did. Yeah, we obviously should've told Maya in advance about the kiss. And yes, I'm starting to see how that could've driven her to someone else. But Zay? He should've known that I would never cheat on Maya. I can't believe he didn't send her right back to confront me, let alone that he actually slept with her."

Farkle frowned. "I don't think any of us have figured out what Zay was thinking yet."

"I know. I wouldn't have believed it if Maya hadn't basically told me that it was you, him, or Josh."

"It clearly wouldn't be Farkle," Smackle said.

"And there's no way it was my Uncle Josh," Riley chimed in.

Lucas nodded. "Which left Zay. And everything fit. I knew it had to be him. But there's a part of me that's still having trouble accepting it. Him and Maya were always just good friends. I never even considered that anything could happen between them. And to think that it was while Maya was so messed up…that's just not the Zay I know."

Riley looked down. "Yeah. I thought that too."

"I think the part about Zay puzzles everyone," Smackle admitted. "Let's just redirect the conversation to Maya. Her actions are much simpler to understand. Lucas, as upset as you are, you haven't ended your relationship yet."

"Which tells us that you want to work things out," Farkle added.

Lucas couldn't dispute that analysis. He did still love Maya, and he did still want to be with her. Given the circumstances, the one-night-stand was something he could get over. At least her part in it was. But the baby complicated everything. Every bit of logic he had was telling him that their relationship couldn't possibly work anymore.

He shook his head. "I don't know if we _can_ work this out."

"You won't know if you never try," Riley pointed out. "Maybe the baby will be too much for you to deal with. But maybe it won't be either. I know you, Lucas. You'll love that little boy or girl. You won't be able to help yourself."

Farkle nodded in agreement. "All you have to do is decide whether what you and Maya have is worth fighting for."

Lucas looked around at his friends' sincere faces, and he realized what he had to do.

* * *

That night, Maya was lying on her bed and flipping through a magazine as she talked to Zay on the phone. Her mom had gone to the store, so she was home alone and could talk freely without the risk of being overheard.

" _So they really took everything okay?"_ Zay's voice indicated a slight nervousness.

"Better than I expected," Maya admitted. "I don't think they're crazy about me keeping the baby, but they said they'll be there for me. And I don't think Shawn will give you too much trouble. I told him you're stepping up and trying to be the best teenage dad a kid could ask for. You should still probably keep your distance for a while though."

" _Not a problem. I don't need any more trouble from this. I think Lucas is going to ignore me for the rest of the summer as it is. Not that I can blame him. I would do the same thing."_

Maya frowned. "I'm sorry about that. When he gets around to formally dumping me, I'll see what I can do to try and fix you two. Helping me shouldn't cost you your best friend."

" _Yeah, well, I just hope he understands when he finds out the truth."_

"He won't hold this against you. I won't let him. I know I put the pressure on, but you didn't have to do this for me. So you're right. I owe you, big time."

" _Trust me, I won't let you forget it. Have you figured out how you're gonna start 'easing' Josh into all this yet?"_

"I've got a few ideas," Maya replied. At that point, she heard a rapping on the front door and sat up. "Somebody's at the door. I'll call you back later."

After they hung up, Maya walked into the living room and opened the front door. She couldn't help but be surprised to see Lucas standing there.

 _I guess this is it,_ she thought. _The wait is over._

"Maya, we have to talk," he said.

She let him in and closed the door behind him. "I was wondering what was taking so long," she commented as she turned back to face him. "All I ask is that you don't beat around the bush. Just come right out and say it. Please."

Lucas nodded. "Okay. I want us to stay together."

Her eyes slowly widened. She was sure that she must have misheard.

"You _what_?"

He drew closer to her. "I still love you. This would be a lot easier if I didn't. If I could just walk away and know that I was doing the right thing. This whole baby thing—it's crazy. And I don't know if I'll be able to handle it. But I at least want to try. Because I think something as special as what we have is worth fighting for. So that's what I'm doing. I'm fighting for us."

Maya stared at him in disbelief. "You're actually going to forgive me. After what I did."

"You thought I was stabbing you in the back with your best friend. And after all this, I've got a pretty good idea of what that feels like. I'm not gonna say that I'm over it yet, but I do think I'll get there. I just need to know something."

"Yeah. What?"

"Do you have any kind of feelings for Zay?"

"Not like that," Maya answered, shaking her head. "He's been a really good friend to me. I know you don't think so right now, but you'll get it someday. Lucas, I need you to try and forgive him. I know what we did is unexplainable, but trust me, he deserves a second chance a lot more than I do."

Lucas sat down on the couch. "I don't think that's possible. Why you did it—I get. It hurts, but at least I can understand it. But Zay? He has no explanation. How could I ever trust him again?"

"Just talk to him," Maya implored, sitting down beside him. "I know he's been calling you nonstop. Just pick up once. Listen to him. The last thing he ever wanted to do is hurt you."

A brief silence passed before he sighed. "I'll think about it. That's the best I can do for now."

She nodded, understanding. It was progress at least. She now realized that she'd been pretty selfish to ask Zay to go along with this without considering how it would affect his friendship with Lucas, so she needed to fix things between them as soon as possible.

As far as her own relationship with Lucas, she still couldn't believe that he was here—wanting to try and get through this. Ninety-nine out of a hundred guys would've walked away and never looked back.

"Are you _sure_ this is what you want?" Maya wondered. "People are gonna call you crazy. You do know that?"

Lucas slowly took one of her hands in his. "If this doesn't work, it won't be because of what other people say. Besides, I can already name three people off the top of my head who will be pretty happy to see us together again."

Maya relinquished a small smile. She could guess who they were.

"They just won't give up on me, will they?"

"No one's giving up on you," Lucas said, quietly, as he took her into his arms.

The two of them stayed that way until Maya fell asleep. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so peacefully.


	9. Ultrasound

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites, everyone!**

 **I apologize for the delay. I just started my summer job, so that's taking up a lot of my time. I'll still try to update twice a week, but if it's only once a week for a while, that's why.**

* * *

Three Weeks Later

Maya sat in the waiting room at the OB-GYN's office, anxiously waiting for Zay to get there. If she'd known he was going to be a no-show, she would've taken her mom up on her offer to take the day off and go with her. She hadn't let on to anyone that she was nervous about seeing the baby for the first time, but she couldn't help but be. She didn't have the first idea of what to expect.

Her phone vibrated, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was a text message from Zay. But then she read it.

 _You'll thank me later._

"What?" She started to text him back to ask him what he was talking about and where he was, but it didn't take her long to figure out what was going on.

"Maya?"

She looked up to find Josh standing in front of her, giving her a small smile. "Hope you don't mind. Zay asked me to come up here so you wouldn't be alone," he said, sitting down in the chair beside her. "I'm sure he's told you about his accident with the dishwasher."

"Right," Maya replied, still surprised. "But you didn't have to come. I mean, I'm sure I could get Riley up here in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, I told Zay that. He said Riley's supposed to be helping with some decorations for your mom's wedding, and he told me _very_ clearly not to bother her. And I guess he thought it would be too weird if he asked Lucas. Are they even talking to each other?"

"Not really," she admitted. "But I have a feeling they'll be good again soon."

Just as soon as she could bring herself to tell Josh the truth. It wasn't like she hadn't been trying for the past few weeks. She'd been dropping hints all over the place, not that he was catching on to any of them. It was clear that he still wasn't interested in the idea of having kids in the near future, so she'd given up on that and had just been trying to force the necessary words out. But then someone would interrupt their conversation, or Josh would say something to make her decide to wait just a little bit longer. So as annoyed as she was, she understood why Zay did this. There wasn't going to be a better time for her to break the news.

"Maya Hart."

After hearing her name, she looked at Josh.

"I can just stay out here if you want," he offered.

She shook her head. "I want you to come with me."

* * *

Maya had been warned. Both her mom and Riley's mom had told her—it's one thing to know you're pregnant, but it's completely different once you see that baby inside of you.

They were right.

She wasn't the least bit prepared for the emotions that swept through her when that image appeared on the screen. It was tiny and just now beginning to really resemble a baby, but the love that she felt when she looked at it was unlike any love that she had ever experienced before.

"That's really my baby?" Maya asked, in awe.

"It is," the obstetrician confirmed. "It's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Really amazing," Josh agreed.

Maya tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to glance back at him. His gaze was still focused on the image. She wondered if there was some part of him that knew, way deep down, that he was looking at his son or daughter.

 _Probably not. That would make it way too easy._

"Well, I'm happy to report that everything looks completely normal with your little one," the obstetrician said. "Do you have any questions for me?"

Maya nodded. "When do we find out if it's a boy or a girl?"

"I would say we have a good chance of knowing that in five to nine weeks, assuming the baby wants to cooperate."

"I think it's a boy," Josh commented.

The obstetrician chuckled. "Fathers usually do."

"Oh, no, I'm just a friend," he said, correcting her assumption with an easy smile.

Maya decided that it wasn't the right time to inform him that he was actually the one in the wrong, so she waited until a few minutes later when they had made their way out of the building.

She then stopped walking and took a shaky breath. "Josh, I need to talk to you about something."

He looked back at her. "Yeah, what is it?"

"You're gonna need to sit down first," she said, motioning to a nearby bench. He looked a little confused, but he complied with her wishes.

"Okay. What's up?"

As Maya looked at him, her mind went blank. She had rehearsed this plenty of times in her head, and even acted it out a few times with Zay. But at the moment, she didn't think she was capable of doing more than blurting out, "You're my baby's father." And that was probably _not_ the best way to start this.

"Maya?" Josh said, frowning.

At that moment, his phone started to ring.

"Take it," she said, quickly.

"It can wait."

"So can this. Take your call."

Josh sighed and answered the phone. "Hey, Liam. Look, I'm kind of busy right now."

Silence.

"Yeah. I'll be ready to leave by six. But please remember to tell your relatives that I've got to be back by Saturday. You know I've got a wedding to go to."

More silence.

"Okay. Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

Maya watched him as he hung up the phone. "You're going somewhere?" she asked.

"New Orleans," Josh replied. "A friend of mine has family that he's been wanting to go see. They didn't want him making the drive by himself, so I told him I'd go. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hang out down there for a few days."

"Sounds like fun," she said, looking down.

"Hopefully. But back to you now. You wanted to tell me something?"

She shook her head. "It can wait."

"Maya…"

"I said it can wait, Josh," she said, cutting off his attempt to protest. "You'll be back for my mom's wedding, so we'll just talk after it's over. Go have fun while you still can."

She then stood up and began to walk away, leaving a very confused Josh behind.

* * *

Maya later met up with Zay in a back booth of a nearby sandwich shop, even though she knew exactly what his reaction was going to be when she told him about what happened. And it was pretty much what she expected.

"What do I need to do?" he wondered. "Get a teleprompter and pre-write a speech for you? Because I'm starting to get the feeling that it's my only hope of getting you to tell him. I mean, this was the _perfect_ opportunity."

"Look, it's just a few extra days. I'm going to pull him aside and tell him after the wedding. You can even stand there and watch if you want."

"As much as I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation, I think I'm the last person Shawn wants at his wedding."

Maya sighed. "I'll tell him, Zay. I promise."

"We'll see," Zay replied, without much optimism. "So where are the pictures? I want to see the baby."

She pulled the sonogram picture out of her purse and handed it over to him.

Zay shook his head as he looked at it. "Wow. It must be so weird, knowing you got this whole other person inside you."

"Weirder than you could possibly imagine," Maya admitted. "But at least the morning sickness isn't so bad anymore. Now I just have to deal with the cravings and the fact that I'm gonna be as big as a house. Oh, and let's not forget childbirth. So much to look forward to."

"You know what you're gonna name it yet?"

She shrugged. "I'll worry about that once I find out what it is."

When Maya noticed an upset-looking Riley walking towards them, she gave Zay a kick under the table—warning him not to say anything else. He turned around for a second and then looked back at Maya.

"I was wondering why she wanted to know where I was," he remarked.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Maya asked as Riley approached them and slid into the booth next to her.

"I could've gone to your ultrasound with you," she said, clearly disappointed. "Zay, why would you tell Josh I'm busy when I wasn't? I'm Maya's best friend! If you couldn't be there, and her mom was working, shouldn't I be next in line? Or Lucas? Why would you pick my uncle of all people?"

"I just thought you might be busy doing something for the wedding," Zay said, casually. "And I couldn't ask Lucas. He's barely speaking to me."

Riley crossed her arms. "Your wrist looks fine to me. I thought you sprained it when you were unloading the dishwasher."

Maya sent Zay a disbelieving look. She'd been sure that he had come up with some lame story, but she thought it at least would've been more convincing than that.

Zay looked at his wrist. "Yeah, well, it ended up not being as bad as I thought."

"Something is going on here," Riley said, looking from him to Maya. "What are you guys not telling me?"

Maya reached across the table for her sonogram photo and handed it to Riley.

"This is my baby," she said, watching as Riley looked at the picture for a few seconds.

"Maya, this is so crazy," she finally breathed.

Maya glanced at Zay, who gave her an encouraging nod. Then she took a deep breath and turned her gaze back onto her best friend.

"Riley…that's your cousin."

* * *

A few minutes later, they were all out in the empty portion of the parking lot, where Riley was still having trouble comprehending what Maya had just told her.

"So you're having my uncle's baby?" Riley asked, slowly. Her voice reflected how shocked she still was. She couldn't even _begin_ to wrap her head around the idea.

Maya sighed. "Riles, that's the seventh time you've asked me that. The answer's not going to change."

"But…But _how_?" the brunette demanded.

"Josh was upset and drunk. I was upset and stupid. It didn't seem like a terrible idea at the time…" Maya said, fumbling for an explanation. "But then he didn't remember what happened, and I didn't want to freak him out by telling him. But then I found out I was pregnant…"

Zay nodded. "And I was with her when she found out, so that's how I got sucked into all this."

"I didn't know how to tell Josh," Maya went on. "I was still trying to figure it out when everybody found out about the baby. Then Lucas thought it was Zay's, and then everybody else thought it was Zay's. So I talked him into going along with it until I could sort out this whole mess. Which, obviously, I haven't done yet."

Riley just stared at them with her wide, stunned brown eyes.

"So you two…nothing ever happened?" There was a hint of relief in her voice.

Maya shook her head. "It was just meant to buy me a little more time, and yes, I'm starting to see that it probably wasn't my brightest idea. But it won't last much longer, because I'm gonna tell Josh the truth. As soon as he gets back from his trip."

"Maya, you need to tell him right now," Riley urged. "I can _promise_ you that he won't be going on any trip once he finds out about this."

"Exactly. So I'm letting him have a few more carefree days before I blow up his life."

"See, this kind of thing right here," Zay said, motioning to Maya. "This is what I've been dealing with for the past month and a half. You know there was one point where she didn't want to tell Josh at all?"

"That was only because I didn't want to stick him with a baby he didn't want!" Maya insisted.

Riley sighed and put both of her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "Peaches. I need you to listen to me. No, Josh probably won't take this very well. But he _will_ get used to the idea after a while. And once he does, trust me, he'll want to step up and be a good dad to this baby. So I know it's gonna be hard, but you have to tell him. Soon."

Maya nodded. "And I will. You have my word."

Riley could see the sincerity in Maya's eyes, so she decided not to push the issue further for the time being. She removed her hands from Maya's shoulders.

"Okay. But I have to ask. What is all this going to mean for you and Lucas?" she wondered.

"Well, when he finds out that nothing actually happened between me and Zay, I'm guessing he'll be pretty relieved. And they can go back to being best friends," Maya replied.

"A day that I am beyond ready for," Zay added.

Riley looked at them both and realized that they didn't see the potential issues that this sudden change in the baby's paternity could cause. But then again, she had no way of knowing what would happen either.

"I really hope it's that simple," she finally said.

* * *

Lucas came over to Maya's place that night, and the two of them were in her room watching a movie. At this point, Katy and even Shawn had stopped bothering to give them grief about it. After all, what was the worst that could possibly happen? Maya was already pregnant. Plus, Lucas had definitely earned their approval with the way he had handled everything thus far.

"That looks like entirely too much work," Maya noted as she nodded towards the TV. It was on a wedding scene in a huge cathedral that was filled to capacity.

Lucas smiled. "Aren't you glad your mom didn't want a wedding like that?"

"My mom couldn't _afford_ a wedding like that. But yes. The fewer people that get to watch me do this maid of honor thing, the better."

"Hey, as long as I get to be one of those people. I'm sure you'll do great."

"You have to say that," Maya pointed out.

"I mean it," Lucas assured her, before pausing for a moment. "So, since I've been waiting for the past two hours for you to tell me, I'm just going to ask. How did the ultrasound go?"

She gave him a slightly surprised look. "I didn't think you'd really want to talk about that."

He sighed. "Maya, I might not be thrilled with the whole thing, but I do understand that you and this baby are a package deal. If I'm going to be with you, the baby's going to be a part of my life too. And it's kind of hard for me to get used to all the baby stuff when you're trying to keep me separate from it."

"I don't want it to scare you away," Maya said, quietly.

"I'm not easily scared, you know," Lucas reminded her. "I think me being here right now is proof of that."

She couldn't really argue with that point, so she got up and went to retrieve the sonogram from her desk. Then she came back and handed it to Lucas as she sat back down.

"Doc says everything's normal."

Lucas couldn't help but get a little wide-eyed from looking at the image. It was one thing to know the baby existed, but to actually see it?

Maya plucked the picture from his hand. "You see. _That's_ the freaked out look I was trying to avoid."

"What? I'm not freaked out."

She crossed her arms, knowingly.

"Okay, maybe a little bit," he admitted. " _But_ I'll be less freaked out the next time. And eventually, I won't be freaked out at all. See how this works now?"

Maya relinquished a small smile. "Yeah. I guess I see your point."

Lucas' cell phone buzzed, and she sighed, for she could guess what it was.

"Parents want you home?"

"Afraid so." He stood up and then leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, and then she watched him leave the room. Less than a minute later, her mom walked in.

"Is it that obvious that I was waiting for him to leave?" Katy asked with a smile as she sat down next to Maya and picked up the sonogram that was lying on the bed. "As much as I've stared at this thing, I still can't believe it's my grandbaby."

Maya was glad to note that her mom had started to embrace her grandmother-to-be status as of late.

"Yep. So how's the wedding stuff coming along?"

"Oh, I think we're just about ready. I still have to pack for the honeymoon, but there's plenty of time for that. Now you are sure you'll be okay staying at Riley's for two weeks? You know I don't feel good about leaving you for that long."

"Mom, I'm pregnant, not sick. I'll be fine," Maya assured her. "Besides, I'm only a phone call away. You guys just go enjoy yourselves. You've waited a long time for this."

Katy smiled. "I can't wait to walk down that aisle. It's going to be amazing—just one of those days that you never forget."

Maya nodded, but all she could think about was what she had promised to do after the wedding was over.

 _Oh, yeah. It will definitely be an unforgettable day._

* * *

 **A/N: I promise the wait is about to be over. Next chapter IS the one where Josh finds out. And, yes, there will be fireworks.**


	10. The Hard Truth

**A/N: As always, thank you guys so much for your feedback! I love it so much!**

 **Most of this chapter is the Maya/Josh reveal, as I promised. Hope it doesn't disappoint.**

* * *

One Week Later

Riley walked down the hallway of the small church just as fast as her heels would allow her. Due to how panicked Maya had sounded on the phone, she was understandably anxious to see what was going on.

When she made it to the girls' bathroom, she found that Maya had finally changed into her blue bridesmaid's dress, but was now staring at herself in the full-length mirror and looking as if she had seen a ghost.

"Maya, what is it?" Riley asked, approaching her friend with concern.

"The baby," Maya lamented as she turned around.

Riley's eyes widened. "What's wrong with it? Do we need to get you to the hospital? What am I talking about? Of course we need to get you to the hospital!" She started to try and help Maya out of the room, before the blonde groaned and pulled back.

"No! Nothing's wrong with the baby. You don't see this?" Maya questioned, motioning emphatically to what looked like the first hint of a baby bump. "How can this be happening _today_?"

Riley let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, first of all, I can barely see what you're talking about. Second, just about everyone here already knows about the baby anyway. And third, I feel sure you're going to be just as beautiful no matter how pregnant you are."

Maya hated how comments like that always seemed to make her cry now.

"These stupid hormones! I don't even have time to redo my makeup!" she complained as she wiped carefully at her eyes.

"No, you don't," Riley agreed, pushing the blonde towards the door. "But they made the mascara waterproof for a reason. Trust me, peaches. You look fine."

As they entered back into the hall, they encountered Lucas, Smackle, and Farkle.

"Wow," Lucas breathed, slightly in awe of how stunning his girlfriend looked.

"You look great, Maya," Farkle smiled.

Riley crossed her arms, satisfied. "See? Didn't I tell you? Now, let's go find your mom and get her married."

And that was exactly what they did.

* * *

The wedding was perfect. Shawn and Katy had chosen to write their own vows, instead of reciting the typical recycled ones. These vows were so beautiful and heartfelt that just about everyone in the church pews was reaching for some tissues during the ceremony. Maya didn't have that option, so the tears ran freely down her cheeks as she watched from her position at her mom's side. Luckily, she was too happy to mind.

The reception was held in an adjoining building that was only separated from the church by a breezeway. After Shawn and Katy had made their way over there, Maya was first in line to congratulate the newlyweds.

"Does this mean I get to call you dad now?" she asked, hopefully, as she hugged Shawn.

He smiled. "Sweetie, if that's what you want, I would love it."

"Good. Me too." She turned to Katy and hugged her as well. "Mom, I think you might be the prettiest bride I've ever seen."

The older blonde laughed. "I don't know about that, but you certainly make the prettiest maid of honor I've ever seen. You did wonderful, you know. I don't know what you were worrying about."

Maya smiled and then walked away to clear room for others to offer their congratulations. She sat down at the corner table where Riley was sitting and snacking on one of the finger sandwiches.

"Where is everybody else?" she wondered.

"Farkle and Smackle had to leave, but they wanted me to tell you how happy they are for you and what a great maid of honor you were. And Lucas…" Riley nodded over to the other side of the room. "He is over there having a friendly debate with my Uncle Josh over whether the Cowboys or the Eagles will win the East this year."

Maya looked at the two of them and frowned. "Should we take a picture? We might not see them that civil with each other ever again."

Riley shook her head. "As long as they're both a part of your life, they'll have to figure out how to deal with each other."

"I don't know. You see how hard of a time Lucas has been having with Zay. All those bad feelings are just gonna transfer over to Josh."

"But Josh isn't his best friend. That makes a difference," Riley said, choosing to be optimistic for Maya's sake. "Besides, we have a little while longer before you have to worry about either of them. Right now, how about you just tell me how it feels to have a new dad?"

Maya couldn't help but smile. She'd thought of Shawn as her dad for a while now, but it was a little different now that he was officially married to her mom. It was permanent.

"I feel really lucky," she finally answered, glancing over at him and Katy.

"You _are_ lucky," Riley assured her. "They love you. So do a lot of other people. Whatever happens from today on, we're gonna help you through it."

Maya nodded. She then looked back at Lucas and Josh and took a shaky breath.

* * *

The building in which the wedding reception was being held had an entertainment room upstairs. It was nothing fancy really, just a place for the church's teens and young adults to hang out. The only real 'entertainment' was a TV and a pool table. However, it offered privacy, which was exactly what Maya needed.

Riley led Josh up there while Maya said goodbye to Lucas, who was leaving. The reception had all but ended at that point. Afterwards, she went to join Josh and Riley, with the anxiety and, oddly enough, comfort of knowing that there was no backing out this time.

When she walked into the room, Josh and Riley both stood up and approached her.

"Maya, what is my niece talking about?" Josh asked, giving Riley a quick glance. "What's so important that we can't talk about downstairs? Is this the same thing you were wanting to tell me the other day?"

"I'll just leave you guys alone," Riley said, heading for the door. Maya briefly considered begging her to stay, but she ultimately knew that this was a conversation that she and Josh needed to have by themselves.

After Riley left the room, Maya looked back at him. "I have to warn you. Once I tell you this, you _will_ freak out. You'll probably get mad. And there's a good chance that you will resent me for a long, long time. If not the rest of your life."

Josh followed her as she went to sit down, and he took the seat beside her.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad," he said, calmly. "Besides, nothing you could tell me would make me resent you. So let's hear it. What's going on?"

She started to speak, but then she paused for a second to think it over.

 _Just do it. Tell him._

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "You remember that night at the park a few months ago? You'd just broken up with Kaylie. Which I knew that would happen eventually because she was such a…never mind, that's a different subject. Anyway, you were upset, and you'd been drinking. A lot. Then you ran into me. And I was upset too, because I had just seen Lucas with Riley. I thought it was something that it wasn't. We ended up kissing. You remember that, right?"

Josh nodded, but he was more than a little surprised that Maya wanted to dredge that night up again. He only remembered bits and pieces of it, just enough to know that he'd been the textbook definition of self-destructive.

"Why would you want to bring that up?" he wondered.

Maya sighed. "Because you don't know everything that happened that night. You don't know what happened after you kissed me."

She watched as his expression became more worried.

"What do I not know?" Josh asked, slowly.

Maya closed her eyes for a brief moment and then looked back at him.

"We slept together."

All the color immediately started to drain from his face. He had that look where part of you thinks you must have misheard, and the other part knows that you only _wish_ you had misheard.

" _What?_ " he finally choked out.

"I know I should've told you before," Maya said, quickly. "But it was obviously a one-time thing, and I just didn't see the point in freaking you out for no reason. I thought you'd be better off not knowing."

Josh stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. "No, no, no. This has to be some kind of a joke. And, Maya, it's not a funny one."

"Do I look like I'm joking, Josh? We had sex that night. That's not even up for debate. It was stupid and a really bad idea, but I can promise you—it happened," she said, finishing quietly.

His first instinct was to continue to deny it. He knew that he'd been messed up that night, but he just couldn't see himself crossing that line—not with Maya. She was his niece's best friend, practically a part of the family! And that wasn't even mentioning her age or the fact that she had a boyfriend. She might as well have had a flashing neon sign over her head that said, "Off limits!" He really wanted to believe that he wouldn't have gone there.

But he wasn't naïve either. As gorgeous as Maya was, she'd be hard for most guys to resist when they were sober. He'd been far from it. Besides, she didn't have any reason to lie about this. And even if she did, all it took was one look at her to know that she was telling the truth. This happened. They made a _huge_ mistake.

"Oh my God," Josh breathed. He stood up and began to pace around the room for a few seconds, letting it sink in. Then he finally looked back at her. "This happened months ago. You didn't tell me then. Why are you telling me now?"

She stood up and slowly made her way over to him.

"I didn't have a choice," she admitted. "If you didn't know this part of the story, the rest of it wouldn't have made any sense."

"The rest of it? You mean there's _more_?"

"Yeah," Maya sighed. "Josh...that's the night I got pregnant. This baby that I'm having? It's yours."

Those words hit in a way that felt like a thousand bricks being dropped on top of him at once.

"But—But that's not possible!" Josh protested, his voice shaking. "You've been saying that Zay's the father from the beginning! And now suddenly _I'm_ the father? Do you even know? How soon can we get a DNA test?"

She could see the sheer panic written all over his face, and unfortunately, she had the feeling that it was only going to get worse.

"I can give you a hundred DNA tests if you want," she said. "I don't need them though. Because nothing ever happened between me and Zay. When Lucas assumed Zay was the father, I got him to go along with it until I could find a way to tell you. I don't know…I thought if I had more time, maybe I could get you to the point where you didn't hate the idea of having a kid. Because I didn't want to ruin your life! But I've always known you were the father. You're the only person who could be."

Maya's desperate attempt to explain herself rendered Josh absolutely speechless. His mind was racing to such a degree that he felt dizzy and had to grasp onto the edge of the pool table for support. He couldn't believe this—not any of it.

Yet, there were a lot of things that made more sense now. Why Maya was always asking him these 'hypothetical' baby-related questions. Why Zay had insisted upon him being the one with Maya at her ultrasound. All the times that it seemed like she was trying to tell him something, but couldn't force out the words. It was all right there.

But he didn't have the slightest idea of what he was supposed to do now. No matter how you looked at the situation, he was completely and utterly screwed.

"Think you could say something?" Maya asked, nervously.

Josh released his grip on the pool table and looked at her. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe we slept together. I can't believe I got you pregnant. I can't believe you have been lying to me about it this whole time..."

"I didn't technically lie," she pointed out. "I let you keep thinking something that wasn't true. And if I thought for a second that you would want this baby, I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble. Believe me. But I was right, wasn't I? I can see it all over your face."

"The shock?"

"The horror," Maya said, trying to hide her disappointment. "I get it. You like your life. You don't want a kid to come in and mess it up."

Josh shook his head. "It isn't like that. I'm sure I'll want kids someday."

"Just not right now."

"Maya, I'm not _ready_ for a kid right now," he admitted. "Have you really thought about what it's going to be like? We're looking at eighteen years—longer than you've been alive. I'm still in school. You're still in school. Neither of us has any way to support a baby. Don't you think it would be better off with people who could?"

She crossed her arms. "It was the same situation when you thought Zay was the father. You didn't think I should give the baby up then."

"It wasn't any of my business then," he countered.

"You mean it wasn't your _problem_ then," Maya corrected him. "And it doesn't have to be your problem now. You don't have to be involved if you don't want to be."

Josh stared at her for a moment. "Do you honestly think I would do that? Walk away and leave you to take care of this kid on your own? Really?"

"I don't know what to think, Josh! You've known that it's yours for all of two minutes, and you're already trying to talk me into getting rid of it!"

"That's not what I'm doing! I'm just trying to be realistic here! Can you imagine us trying to raise a baby right now? It would be one issue after another that we don't know how to deal with. I don't want to make a mess out of my kid's life, Maya!"

"You think I do?" she asked, throwing her hands up. "But there are no guarantees that some adoptive parents would do any better than we would! And I'm not going to wake up every day knowing that someone else is raising my kid. It's not happening. This baby is staying with me."

He let out a frustrated sigh. "This isn't only _your_ decision!"

"How is me keeping _my_ child not my decision?" she demanded. "You can do whatever you want. But my mind's made up. I promised I'd tell you, and I did. You just let me know when you decide whether you want to be this baby's dad or not."

With that, Maya left the room, shutting the door on her way out.

And Josh finally broke down.


	11. Righting a Wrong

**A/N: Guys, I am so, so, SO sorry that it's taken me so long to update. My dinosaur of a laptop finally had to be replaced, and it took longer than expected for me to get my new one. But updates should be coming regularly again now. :)**

 **I want to give a huge thank you to all the people who have reviewed/followed/favorited this story. Your support and your patience is appreciated more than you know!**

* * *

Three days had since passed.

Maya was sitting up in Riley's bed, eyes on her phone as she scrolled through some of the honeymoon pictures that her mom had posted to Facebook. They were beautiful, but they weren't keeping her as distracted as she would've liked. She hadn't heard from Josh since the wedding, and though she was trying not to think about that whole situation, it was nearly impossible. Whatever he decided to do—it was going to affect the baby's life. There was no way around it.

She sighed and put her phone down. Then she slowly moved her hand to the ever-so-slight bump where her child was growing.

"It's gonna be okay," she said, softly. "I don't know what will happen, or what things will look like when you get here. Because I hate to tell you, kid, but your mama has made a _lot_ of mistakes lately. That doesn't matter to you though, does it? You don't care about all the stupid things I've done. All you care about is having someone who's gonna take care of you and who's gonna love you. And you have that. You'll always have that. I promise."

"That's a lucky kid."

Startled, Maya looked up to see Zay standing by the bay window. "How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Just long enough to hear your little speech," he replied, going to sit next to her. "Riley thought you could use some company while she's out running errands."

She forced a small smile. "And you're the first person she calls, huh?"

He shrugged. "She's worried about you, and she knows I'm the only other person you can talk to about your Josh issue. Except I'm not related to him, so I don't have to sit here and try to defend him while he's ignoring you."

"Riley thinks he just needs some time. Like Lucas did after he found out I was pregnant."

"That was different," Zay pointed out. "Lucas had the right to be mad. Josh can be mad that you waited until now to tell him, but he brought the rest of this on himself. That baby didn't just magically appear in you."

Maya leaned back against the headboard. "I told you this would happen, you know. But you _had_ to make me tell him anyway."

"Come on, Maya. You couldn't have kept a secret like that forever. And, trust me, it's better that it comes out now than in twenty years when the kid needs a blood transfusion or something."

"How likely would that really be?" she asked, crossing her arms.

He considered for a moment.

"Not very," he finally conceded. "But I'm telling you, the truth always comes out sooner or later. And guess what? You don't have to worry about it anymore. The pressure's all on Josh now."

"Zay, he doesn't even want _me_ to keep this baby. Obviously, I'm going to anyway, but that just shows how little he wants to do with the whole thing."

Zay sighed. "If he still feels that way in a few months, then he's the one missing out. You did what you had to do. So, now, you just need to quit stressing out over stuff you can't control. You know stress is bad for the baby, and Uncle Zay's not gonna stand for it."

"Fine," Maya relented. "So what does 'Uncle Zay' suggest I do?"

"Whatever puts a smile on that pretty face of yours. You just tell me what it is, and we'll do it."

She thought about it for a second. "Anything?"

"Anything," he agreed. "But if you're gonna have me watching some kind of chick flick, there better be some snacks involved."

"You might want to think it through before you volunteer to watch a chick flick with a pregnant girl," Maya advised, even as she allowed herself to smile. "I appreciate it though. You've had my back since the beginning. It means a lot."

"I'll always have your back," Zay assured her. Her phone then lit up in between them, showing a text message from Lucas. Zay gave her a cautious look. "Still good with telling him today?"

Maya nodded. "It's time."

* * *

Riley double-checked that she was at the correct apartment door and then knocked on it.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and she was left standing in front of a tall, attractive guy with shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes. He was one of Josh's closest friends, so Riley had seen him several times before. And she could tell by the look on his face that her visit was no surprise whatsoever.

"Liam, is my uncle still here?" she asked, bluntly.

Sure enough, he moved aside to let her in.

"He's out on the balcony," he said, pointing in that direction as he shut the door. "He told me about the whole baby situation. Sounds like him and your friend have managed to make a pretty big mess, huh?"

She nodded, regretfully. "You mind if I talk to him?"

"No, go ahead."

Riley went out onto the balcony, where Josh was standing at the railing and staring out into the distance, but looking like his thoughts were a million miles away.

"You can't keep doing this," she said, capturing his attention. "I know you're scared, but you avoiding Maya isn't going to change the fact that she's having your baby. You're going to have to deal with that. So it's time for you to come back home with me and figure things out with her. I won't take 'no' for an answer."

Josh sighed. "Riley, there's nothing to figure out. Maya's going to do what she wants, and I just have to live with it."

Riley frowned as she joined him at the railing. "What does that mean? You aren't thinking of walking away from this baby, are you?"

"Really? First Maya, and now you?" He shook his head. "What did I ever do to make you guys think I would even _consider_ abandoning my child?"

"You asked that child's mother to give it up for adoption," she reminded him.

"For its own good!" he insisted. "There are a whole lot of people out there who could give this kid a better life than me and Maya can. People who have their lives together, who are ready to be parents. So, yeah, I think adoption would make the most sense. But Maya made it very clear that she doesn't feel that way. She's determined to keep the baby, and that little boy or girl is going to need two parents. I know that. So I'll be there. Of course I will."

Riley gave him a questioning look. "Then why haven't you told Maya that? Why are you still here?"

There was a moment of silence before Josh finally brought himself to admit the truth.

"Because as soon as I face the music, nothing in my life is ever going to be the same again." He raked his hand back through his hair. "You're right. I'm scared. And that's probably not a strong enough word. Terrified would be more accurate."

"You're gonna be a good dad," she said, without a trace of doubt in her voice. "I know the circumstances are...weird. But I have faith in you, and I have faith in Maya. You guys will do whatever you have to do to give my baby cousin a good life. So go talk to her. Figure all this out."

Josh gave a relenting nod, for he knew his niece was right.

* * *

Maya and Zay were sitting in the window seat when Lucas showed up. It was clear that they had been waiting for him, and he immediately suspected that Maya had taken matters into her own hands and was planning to get them to finally talk things out.

He sighed as he stood in front of them. "Maya, what is this?"

She and Zay both stood up to face him.

"I've made a lot of mistakes," Maya said, simply. "This is me trying to fix one of them. And before you start saying it's not possible, you need to hear us out."

Lucas hated when she made these kinds of attempts. They always tempted him to just give in and forgive Zay, which was already what he really wanted to do. But he was starting to realize that he would never be able to follow through with it without a real explanation from his estranged friend.

"Okay," he said, crossing his arms. "I'm listening."

Maya took a shaky breath as she tried to figure out where to start, before Zay took that problem away from her by using a much simpler approach.

"I'm not the father of Maya's baby."

The statement caught Lucas off guard. He'd expected Zay to throw out some excuse, not try and deny the baby altogether. He glanced at Maya, stunned that she appeared to be going along with it. Then he focused his attention back on Zay.

"Do you really think you can fix this by lying to me?" he wondered.

Maya put her hand on his shoulder. "Lucas, he's not lying."

He turned to her then. "I get that you want things to go back to normal again. I think everyone wants that. But neither one of you can change what happened, and neither one of you can snap your fingers and make the baby suddenly not be Zay's."

"We don't have to. It never was mine," Zay said, firmly. "Nothing has ever happened between me and Maya. Nothing _would_ ever happen. I wouldn't do that to you! I know how it probably looked, but the only reason I knew all the stuff I did was because I was the one with Maya at the doctor when she found out. Do you remember that day?"

 _Nothing has ever happened between me and Maya._ Those words echoed in Lucas' head, and he shook his head in confusion.

"This doesn't make any sense! If you really aren't the father, why would you let everyone think you are?"

"Because I asked him to," Maya admitted. "Things were really complicated. There were other people involved, and I thought if I had some extra time, I would be able to get the situation under control before it turned into an even bigger mess. I should've known better."

Questions were flooding into Lucas' mind, but only one seemed important.

"Why didn't you just tell me the truth?" he asked, looking at her with hurt in his eyes. "God, Maya, what _is_ the truth? Everything you told me about that night..."

"Was all true," she said, finishing for him.

He nodded. "It just wasn't everything."

Maya lowered her gaze. "No."

Zay sighed and stepped in. "Man, she never wanted to keep anything from you. She just knew you'd go straight to Josh if you found out." He instantly realized what he'd just done and sent an apologetic glance in Maya's direction.

"Josh? As in Riley's uncle? Why would I..." Lucas stopped when the realization hit him, and he turned back to Maya. "Oh my God. _He's_ the baby's father? Are you kidding me?"

Her silence said all that needed to be said.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and Riley walked in. With Josh right behind her. And they both knew as soon as everyone turned to look at them that they had come in at a _very_ bad time.


	12. Consequences

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites, guys!**

 **Warning: Some of you will be ticked with me after this chapter. I'll be making it up to you soon. That's all I'll say.**

* * *

They say there's a calm before every storm. Even in a volatile situation such as this one, that proved to be true. It only lasted for a few short seconds, in which looks were exchanged amongst the five people in the room—looks that were questioning, accusing, sympathetic—depending on the sender and the recipient.

Maya took the brief opportunity to latch onto Lucas' arm, her way of begging him not to go after Josh.

Riley turned to her uncle. "On second thought, now might not be a good time for this."

"There won't ever be a good time for this," Josh responded. He then made his way over to the other three teens, with a nervous Riley following behind him. It was obvious to the both of them that Lucas knew.

"I know you're dying to take a swing at me," Josh stated, simply. "Go ahead. I would probably do the same thing if I was in your place."

Maya quickly moved in between them. "No. I'm not letting you guys get bloodstains all over Riley's floor. Besides, fighting isn't gonna help any of us."

Lucas looked from her to Josh, and at that moment, he knew that it was probably smart of Maya to stand in his way. There were a lot of things that he still didn't understand, but he knew enough to make him pretty damn furious.

"What a hypocrite you turned out to be," he said, shaking his head in disgust.

Riley sighed. "Lucas…"

"Don't defend him, Riley! I mean, do we need to go through the list of things this wonderful uncle of yours has done? Let's see, he sleeps with _my_ girlfriend, gets her pregnant, lets Zay take the fall for it…"

"Okay, that's not what happened," Josh said, cutting him off. "First of all, I didn't know what Maya and Zay were doing. I wasn't a part of that whole deal. And, second, never in a million years did I intend for anything to happen between me and Maya. I know that doesn't change anything, but it's the truth. This wasn't me making some kind of a play for your girlfriend. This was two people being in a bad place and doing something really stupid. That's it."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "And I should just, what, take your word for it?"

"You don't have to believe him," Maya said, turning her full attention to her boyfriend. "Believe me. Believe me when I tell you that, if either of us had been in our right minds that night, none of this would've ever happened."

"How can I do that?" Lucas asked, exasperation in his voice. "How can I keep trusting what you say when you're keeping all these secrets and telling all these lies? Where does it end?"

With that question, she felt her heart break a little inside.

"It ends here. This is it. You know everything." She slowly took a step closer to him. "Lucas, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"That's what lies do, Maya. They hurt people." He shook his head and then started to head for the window.

"Lucas, please just wait!" she pleaded, making an attempt to follow after him before Zay stepped in front of her.

"You might want to give him a little space right now," he suggested, gently.

Maya let out a frustrated sigh. She couldn't believe that she had given Lucas yet another reason to push her away. Why was she so determined to ruin everything good in her life?

She sat down on the window seat and buried her head in her hands. Riley soon sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her.

"It'll be okay," the brunette promised.

Maya wasn't so sure.

* * *

Once Lucas knew that he was out of everyone's view, he sat down on the nearest bench. His head was still spinning from everything that had just happened.

Maya. Zay. Josh.

How was he even supposed to react to something like this?

Shock. Confusion. Relief. Horror. Anger. Hurt.

They were all there, fighting for dominance inside of him. The relief he felt from knowing that nothing ever happened between Zay and Maya was so far outweighed by everything else that he almost wished the lie had been the truth.

"Lucas?"

He looked up to see Farkle and Smackle approaching him. They were probably on their way to Riley's and had just missed everything. Both of them were looking at him with concerned expressions.

"Are you okay?" Farkle wondered.

"No," he admitted. "You think things are finally starting to settle down, and then the rug gets pulled out from under you again."

Farkle and Smackle shared a glance, and then they sat down on both sides of him.

"What happened?" Smackle questioned, bluntly.

Lucas briefly looked down at his hands. "I just found out that Zay isn't the father of Maya's baby."

The statement earned him two pairs of wide, stunned eyes.

"Then who is?" Farkle finally asked.

"Riley's dear Uncle Josh. And, no, I'm not making this up. Apparently, the whole thing with Zay never even happened. I've been pissed off at the wrong person this entire time."

Smackle frowned. "I don't understand. Why would Zay claim a baby that he knew wasn't his?"

"I can only think of one reason," Farkle responded. "Maya asked him to."

Lucas nodded. "I'm still lost on some of the details, but yeah, that's pretty much what happened. I don't think Josh knew. But then again, I'm not sure of anything anymore," he said, before he stood and began to pace the sidewalk in front of them.

Farkle watched him, worriedly. "So…what happens now?"

Lucas shook his head. "I don't know."

* * *

After Riley and Zay had left the room, Josh sat down next to Maya on the window seat. She looked numb and hopeless, like she had finally given up on her ability to get anything right.

"Riley's right, you know," he said. "You and Lucas will work things out. You always do."

She slowly turned her gaze to him. "You didn't come back here to talk about me and Lucas. You're here about the baby. So whatever it is you want to say, please just go ahead and say it."

Josh sighed. "Okay. You know how I feel about us trying to raise this baby…"

"Yeah. You think it's a terrible idea. And like I said, you don't have to be a part of it."

"Just let me finish?" he implored. "Yes, I'm worried about a lot of things. Money, living arrangements, the parenting thing itself. I mean, do you realize how much stuff has to get figured out before this kid gets here?"

"A lot," Maya answered. "I'm well aware of that."

"And you're still a hundred percent sure that this is what you want?"

She nodded. "I think the better question is what you want."

A brief silence passed before he spoke. "I want my son or daughter to have the kind of life they deserve. And that includes having their dad around. I'm not going anywhere. Not when they're two, and not when they're seventeen. You have my word on that."

"What about you not being ready?" Maya questioned.

"I'll just have to get ready," Josh replied. "Because you doing this on your own was never an option. We're in this together."

Tears began to stream down Maya's cheeks as she accepted a hug that she needed more than she had realized.

* * *

Riley left the kitchen with a can of soda in each hand, and went into the living room, where she handed one of them to Zay. She then sat down on the couch beside him.

"Thanks," he said, forcing a small smile.

"You're worried about Lucas too," she noted.

"Pretty good at reading me, aren't you?"

She smiled for a moment and then let it fade away. "I miss how simple life used to be," she admitted. "It's all so complicated now."

He nodded. "Would've been a lot less complicated if I hadn't let Maya talk me into going along with this charade in the first place."

"You were trying to be a good friend," Riley pointed out. "Maya asked for your help, and you didn't want to let her down. This isn't your fault."

"It's true."

They both turned at the sound of Maya's voice. She and Josh had just made their way into the living room.

"Everything that's gone wrong during the past few months can be traced right back to a bad decision I made," Maya said. "I just have to figure out how to start making better ones. If not for my own good, then for my kid's."

At that moment, the door opened. Everyone looked up to see Riley's parents walk in, both of them looking like they were in quite the good mood.

"Good news, kids," Cory said, approaching them. "Auggie's at his sleepover, and you guys are all going out tonight. On us."

"What if we want to stay home?" Riley wondered.

"Your father and I are having a date night," Topanga informed her.

"Out it is," the teen said, affirmatively.

Topanga smiled. "We thought you might feel that way."

Cory frowned slightly when he noticed the anxious looks that were being exchanged between Josh and Maya. "Everything okay with you two?" he asked, cautiously.

Everyone else's attention turned to them as well.

Josh took a shaky breath and stepped towards his brother. "There's something that I have to tell you. Just please promise me you won't say anything to mom and dad. Not until I have a chance to talk to them."

"Okay," Cory agreed, slowly.

Riley stood up. "We'll just go...somewhere else."

She and Zay quickly left, shutting the door on their way out.

Cory turned back to Josh. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?"

"Because you won't," Maya answered, honestly.

Josh sighed. "Cory...I'm going to be a dad. Maya's baby—it's my baby too."

Topanga's eyes grew wide, and Cory was staring at him as if he was an alien from outer space.

" _What?_ " the older brother finally squeaked out.

"There was an incident a few months ago. It was a one-time thing," Josh attempted to explain, before deciding to change course. "Look, the story's long and confusing, but the bottom line is that I'm gonna do what needs to be done for this kid. And I could really use the help of someone who knows what they're doing."

Cory could see the fear in Josh's eyes, and he looked at Maya, who gave the affirming nod. He had a whole list of questions flooding into his head, mostly _What in the world were you thinking?_ and _Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?_ But he ultimately decided that they could wait a few more moments, and he gave Josh a hug instead.

"You know I'll help you any way I can," he said. "But, little brother, you've got a _lot_ of explaining to do."

* * *

 _We need to talk. I'm at home alone._

That was the text message that sent Maya over to Lucas' place that night. Though, frankly, she probably would've ignored her friends' advice and gone over there anyway. She didn't see how giving him space would possibly make him understand her actions any better.

After a few seconds of her standing outside, he came to the door.

She immediately threw her arms around his neck, silently begging him to hug her back. He did, but it was with a hesitation that she couldn't help but notice.

"I'm sorry," she said, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry for everything."

After she'd walked inside, he closed the door and then turned back to her.

"Maya, I can't keep doing this."

She nodded. "I know. And I can explain…"

"No, you can't," Lucas responded. "This was about Josh, not me. I know that. But what you did affected me too. It affected us. Because not only did I treat Zay like crap because of this, I figured out that you still don't trust me with the truth."

Maya frowned at his conclusion. "No. Lucas, you're one of the people I trust most in this world."

"Really? Then why didn't you give me a little bit of credit when you saw me with Riley? Why didn't you consider that maybe it wasn't what it looked like? And why didn't you trust me enough to tell me about what happened with Josh? And the baby? I found out you were pregnant in a hospital room with ten other people, Maya!"

"And I wish I could go back and change all that. I just didn't want to lose you!"

"You didn't!" he stressed. "I forgave you! But even after all that, you _still_ didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth about who the baby's father is. So, please, tell me what I ever did to make you feel that way."

"Nothing," she whispered. "I didn't want to keep secrets from you or anyone else. Everything was just so complicated. This hole that I had dug myself into...it was like the more I tried to get out of it, the deeper it got. Every choice I made was the wrong one." She shook her head as she thought about it all. "But that's over now. You know the truth. And from now on, I promise you—that's all you'll ever get from me."

Lucas raked his hand back through his hair. "I want to believe that."

"Want to? Does that mean you don't?" Maya asked, hurt.

"I don't know," he answered in frustration. "I have tried really hard to be understanding through all this. But you can only be kept in the dark so many times before you start to wonder if there's more coming. I don't want to feel that way. That's not us. That's not how our relationship used to be."

Remembering those days saddened her, because things used to be so easy for them. Their most serious arguments would be over which movie to go see on Friday night or whether it was a good idea to meddle in their single friends' love lives or not. How had they gotten to this point?

"I'll fix this," Maya vowed.

Lucas sighed. "I know you want to. So do I. And at the end of the day, I think we will. But I don't think it can happen right now. Not without some magic reset button anyway."

Her heart sank at the implication of those words.

"What are you saying?" she questioned.

"Maya," he said, slowly. "We need a break."


	13. A Family Thing

**A/N: I know I'm really late posting this, and I'm so sorry to keep you guys waiting. I really didn't like the original version of this chapter, so I basically went back and re-wrote the whole thing and that's why it took so long. Again, sorry about that.**

 **I also want to thank everyone so much for all the reviews/follows/favorites. You've been absolutely amazing, and it means so much!**

* * *

The next morning, Maya was standing in the Matthews' kitchen with a bowl of cookie dough ice cream on the counter in front of her, while Riley tried to make her feel better about the fact that her boyfriend thought he needed a break from her. It wasn't working so well.

"Maya, he told you that this is only until you guys get all your issues sorted out," Riley reminded her. "A break isn't the same thing as a break-up."

Maya knew that. Lucas had told her himself that he still loved her, that he _did_ want to fix things. But all she could think about was how none of this would even be happening if she hadn't decided to let him believe a lie.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked, more to herself than to Riley.

The brunette sighed and hugged her. " _Nothing_ is wrong with you. You made mistakes. That's life. It happens to everyone." She slowly drew back. "I believe that you and Lucas will get back to where you need to be. But right now, maybe you should just focus on things that only you can control. Like taking care of this little baby. You know what the doctor says about stress."

Maya nodded and took a deep breath. It wasn't good that her friends were constantly having to remind her about keeping her stress levels down. She knew she had to do better. That was just difficult when it seemed like there was always a new problem to deal with.

"I should get into that meditating thing," she murmured as she took a bite of ice cream.

Riley suddenly smiled. "Maya, that's a great idea. They have those kinds of classes all over the place. And I can go with you!"

Maya's first thought was to turn the idea down, but the enthusiasm in Riley's voice made her think twice. She knew her friend wanted to help somehow.

"Sure," she agreed. "Sign me up for whatever you want. It's not like it could hurt."

They heard the front door shut, and Josh soon walked into the room with a McDonald's bag in the grasp of his hand.

"Okay, who wants some breakfast?" he questioned as he set the bag on the counter and began to take out its contents.

"You know me too well," Riley remarked, picking up a McGriddle.

Josh gave his niece a small smile before shifting his gaze to Maya.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," she said, motioning to her bowl of ice cream.

"You sure? The baby might appreciate some real food," he pointed out.

After considering that point for a few seconds, she let out a defeated sigh and took one of the biscuits. She went to sit down at the table, where Riley proceeded to sit down beside her and Josh across from them.

"So…when are we sharing our news with your parents?" Maya asked as she started to unwrap her biscuit.

"Today," Josh answered.

Riley's eyes widened. "Today? I thought it would be this weekend at the earliest."

"That was before they talked to Cory. Apparently, he made it sound so urgent that they felt like they needed to be here as soon as possible."

"That wasn't my intention," Cory said, causing everyone to look up as he approached the table. "It's not easy to carry on a casual conversation with your mom after you've just learned that your baby brother is having a child with your daughter's best friend." He shook his head, for he could still hardly believe the situation. "Have you two started thinking about how you're going to raise this baby? Because it might seem like a long way off, but trust me—it'll be here before you know it."

Maya and Josh looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to do about many of the issues that would have to be sorted out.

"What if you just start with figuring out the custody stuff," Riley suggested.

"Well, I think Maya's going to want the baby with her most of the time," Josh commented.

Maya certainly didn't disagree. This kid hadn't even been born yet, and she was already attached to the point where it hurt to think about being apart from it.

"Would you be okay with that?" she wondered.

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, that's pretty much the only option anyway. I'm not even sure where I'll be living yet. And, besides, I may not know much about this parenting stuff, but even I know that a baby doesn't need to go very long without its mom."

"That goes for its dad too," Maya pointed out. "You can see it anytime you want. I just want you to be around, okay? I want the baby to know from the beginning that it has two parents who love it."

"I can do that," Josh assured her.

Riley smiled, encouraged by the scene. "I think this is all going to work out."

Maya certainly wasn't the optimist that her friend was, but for a moment, she allowed herself to hope that Riley was right.

* * *

Zay found Lucas alone at the basketball court where they used to spend weekends shooting hoops and talking about everything from girls to sports to their ever-changing plans for the future. Those days felt like a lifetime ago.

He watched Lucas sink the ball through the net with ease and then approached him.

"Nice shot," he said, causing his friend to turn around.

Lucas picked up the ball and passed it to Zay. "You know I'm still pretty mad at you."

"Yeah, I know." Zay took a shot, and the ball bounced off of the rim and fell back into Lucas' waiting hands. He just held on to it this time.

"But I am sorry that I accused you before I had all the facts," he admitted.

Zay shrugged. "I get how it must have looked. I'm just sorry I let you believe that you couldn't trust me. Even if it was only for a few weeks. I thought I was helping Maya, and all I ended up doing was making things worse for her."

"Have you talked to her lately?" Lucas asked as they started to make their way over to the bleachers.

"Yeah. She told me about you two taking a break. So is that really a temporary thing, or are you just trying not to hurt her?"

Lucas sighed as they sat down. "I hope it's temporary. I love her, Zay. And some of the things she's done lately—they're not who she is. Anyone can see that. But I can't just pretend that they didn't happen. We've obviously got problems, and ignoring them won't make them go away."

"Ignoring each other won't make them go away either," Zay countered.

"We aren't ignoring each other. We're just spending some time apart. Imagine you're in your car, and you know you're about to drive off the edge of a cliff. Do you keep going, or do you stop the car? That's my relationship right now."

Zay gave a slight nod. "I guess it makes sense to stop the car then."

Lucas took note of the doubt in his voice. "But you don't think I should. Why not?"

"Because it's not what either one of you actually wants, and it's gonna force me and the rest of our friends to play go-between until y'all get your stuff straight," Zay pointed out. "Plus, you got the Josh factor going on."

"Great. My favorite conversation topic," Lucas said, rolling his eyes.

"Look, it's not likely that anything would happen, but Maya _is_ going to be spending a lot of time with him. And if she starts thinking that you don't want to be with her anymore…"

The mere implication made Lucas' insides burn with jealousy, but he couldn't dismiss the possibility. Josh was too much of a wild card.

"She had a thing for him once," he acknowledged. "You've been involved in this for a long time, so I need you to be honest with me. Does she have feelings for him now?"

Zay sighed. "Not that I know of. I mean, we've talked about him a lot, but most of it was me trying to get Maya to tell him the truth about the baby."

Lucas didn't know whether he was more relieved or annoyed.

"Then whywould you _possibly_ bring up the idea of them being together?" he wondered.

"Because somebody needed to warn you of what could happen if you let this break thing drag on too long," Zay answered. "Maya loves you, okay. And I know you love her too. So while you're figuring out whatever it is you're trying to figure out, just make sure she doesn't forget that."

Lucas nodded in a way that showed he was taking the advice to heart.

* * *

Amy Matthews was filled with relief as she hugged her youngest child. Ever since she had spoken with Cory, she'd been worrying that something very serious, and probably not good, was going on with Josh.

"See," Alan said as his wife drew back. "No broken bones and no handcuffs. He's just fine. Aren't you, son?"

"Yeah. I'm okay," Josh assured them.

Maya slowly walked into the living room and watched a few more exchanges between Josh and his parents. They seemed to relax as he told them that he wasn't in any kind of trouble and that he was currently in the process of getting his school-related matters taken care of for the upcoming semester, so there were no problems there.

"So nothing is wrong then?" Amy asked, cautiously.

"That depends on how well you take what I have to tell you," Josh admitted as Maya made her way to his side. "What we have to tell you."

Alan looked at them, surprised. "Maya is involved in this?"

"You could say that," the blonde confirmed. She quickly glanced at Josh before turning her attention back to his parents. "You guys know that I'm pregnant, right?"

Amy nodded. "Riley mentioned that. How is the baby?"

"Uh…fine. My doctor says everything's totally normal."

"Oh, that's good news," the older woman smiled. It began to fade when she noticed the anxious look on her son's face. "But I'm confused. What does your pregnancy have to do with…" She suddenly stopped and slowly covered her mouth with her hand.

"Josh," Alan said, crossing his arms. "I really hope you're going to tell us that we're drawing the wrong conclusion here."

He shook his head. "I can't do that, because you're probably not. So, um, how would you guys feel about becoming grandparents again?"

* * *

A few minutes later, after some of the shock had subsided, they were all seated in the living room. Maya had just finished telling the long, embarrassing story of everything that had happened in the past few months.

"Okay, let me see if I've got this straight," Alan said. "You two are having a child together that you want to raise together, but you aren't involved in any kind of relationship with each other?"

"Maya has a boyfriend," Amy reminded her husband.

"And she's in high school," Josh pointed out.

That remark earned a raised eyebrow from his father. "You think she's too young for you to date, but it's perfectly acceptable that she's having your baby?"

Josh sighed. "No. Of course not. What happened between us was wrong for a lot of different reasons, and it obviously shouldn't have happened. But it's done now, so all we can do is try to be good parents for our kid. And that's what we're going to do."

"It won't be easy," Amy warned. "Raising a child is a huge commitment to make. That baby has to be the first priority for both of you. Above school, above friends, above everything. Are you guys sure you're ready for that?"

Maya took a shaky breath. "All I know is how I feel about my baby. I love it. I love it so much that it scares me. And I know that I'll do whatever I have to do to be the mom it needs."

"Josh?" Alan prompted.

"It's the most important thing in my life now," Josh stated. "It has to come first. I know that."

His mother nodded. "Alright. Well, I can't say I'm thrilled about these circumstances, but a new grandchild being born is always a blessing. Right, Alan?"

"I don't think this is going to turn out the way you kids are planning," Alan admitted. "But, yes, you know we'll all love this baby. And if you need anything, we'll help any way we can."

With their reassuring words, Josh let out a deep breath that he hadn't realized he was holding.

* * *

"Does this mean Maya's going to be my aunt?" Auggie wondered. It was early night, and Josh was now enduring a never-ending parade of questions from his now-informed nephew regarding the baby situation.

He cast a look at Riley, who was sitting on the other end of the couch and was the one who had accidentally spilled the beans to her brother.

"Sorry," she apologized. "But you know you would've had to explain this eventually anyway."

Josh turned his attention back to Auggie and his latest question. "Maya will be your cousin's mom. That doesn't make her your aunt. Your aunt will be whoever I marry one day."

"You don't want to marry Maya?" Auggie asked, perplexed.

Riley frowned. "He isn't even dating Maya. She's with Lucas, remember?"

"Then why is Uncle Josh the baby's dad?"

Josh raked a hand back through his hair. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you go make a list of all the questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them tomorrow."

Auggie crossed his arms. " _Or_ you could answer them now."

Josh reached for his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill.

"Tomorrow works," Auggie decided, plucking the money from his uncle's hand and retreating from the room. Josh then looked back at Riley.

"Is there a kid-friendly way to make him understand all this?" he questioned.

"I hope so," Riley replied. "I'm traumatized enough from knowing how this baby got here. I'd like to see my brother spared."

"Uh, Josh?"

They both looked up to see Maya, who was now standing next to the couch with her phone in her hand and trying to cover it so that a person on the other end couldn't hear. This action plus the worried look on her face made him stand up, concerned.

"Maya, what is it?"

"Remember when we were talking to your parents earlier?" she reminded him. "We may have forgotten to mention that we weren't going to tell my parents about all this until they got home."

He quickly got a sinking feeling in his gut as he glanced at her phone.

"That would be Shawn then."

"Yes," she responded, slowly.

"And he wants to talk to me."

"I'm not sure if talking is the word I would use," Maya admitted as she handed the phone over to a visibly nervous Josh. She watched him walk out into the hallway with it, and then she sank down onto the couch next to Riley.

"It looks like everything's completely out in the open now," the brunette remarked.

"Yeah," Maya sighed. "You think things get any easier from here?"

Riley considered for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe some things will. But, either way, we'll get through it."

"How can you sound so sure?" Maya wondered.

"Because life goes on. We don't have a choice but to go on with it. How many days have you known you were pregnant?"

Maya attempted to count backwards, but quickly gave up. She was too tired for math at the moment.

"Quite a few," she replied. "Why?"

"All those days were hard, weren't they? I mean, you didn't even want to get out of bed during a lot of them. But you got through it. And you'll get through the rest of this pregnancy too, no matter what happens," Riley assured her.

The two girls then shared a hug, and Maya briefly let herself wonder what exactly would be coming her way next.

* * *

 **A/N: Just letting you guys know, the next chapter will have the gender reveal. So if there are any last-minute votes for a boy or girl, now's the time to get them in. :)**


	14. Boy or Girl?

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for all the reviews/follows/favorites! Not to mention the votes. You guys made the decision pretty easy for me. :)**

* * *

One Month Later

Thanks to its stores' many back-to-school sales, the mall was filled with people on the day that Maya finally caved in and let Riley and Smackle take her shopping for maternity clothes. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter. While her pregnancy could still be hidden pretty well beneath baggy shirts, the evidence of her changing body was lying on her bedroom floor in the form of a pile of clothes that she could no longer wear. And it wasn't exactly easy to replace them, given the fact that maternity clothing was obviously not made to appeal to the likes of a high school student.

"This should be enough for now," Maya said, wearily, as she readjusted her grip on the garments of clothing in her arms. Her feet were starting to hurt by this point, and she really just wanted some time to rest before her doctor's appointment later that afternoon.

"Why don't you go sit down?" Riley suggested, nodding to an empty bench just outside the store. "We can check this stuff out for you."

The blonde gratefully handed the clothes over to Riley and the money to Smackle before walking out of the store. But before she reached the bench, the array of wonderful smells coming from the food court reminded her that it was nearing lunch time.

When her friends found her a few minutes later, she was sitting at a table with a half-eaten chicken sandwich in her hands.

"We figured you would end up here," Smackle said, placing Maya's bags on the floor as she and Riley sat down at the table.

Maya shrugged. "They have food and chairs. That's a winning combination for a pregnant chick."

"Are you excited to find out what you're having?" Riley asked, enthusiastically.

Maya wasn't even technically sure that she would be able to find out the baby's gender that day, but she nodded anyway.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't care either way, but it'll help to know before I start having to get baby stuff."

"You really don't have a preference?" Smackle questioned.

"Nope," Maya answered. "My goal is just to pop out a happy, healthy baby, and then have things go back to some level of normal. I've gotten enough drama with this pregnancy to last me a lifetime. Probably two lifetimes."

"Has anything changed with you and Lucas?" Riley wondered.

Maya sighed. "Not really, no. He's still stuck between wanting us to be together and not being able to get past all the stupid things I did. Maybe he'll never be able to get past them." She tried to push the thought from her mind. "But I'm trying to avoid subjects that stress me out, so I vote we talk about your relationship instead."

Riley looked slightly uncomfortable. "But I'm not in a relationship."

"You would like to be," Smackle pointed out.

"That's something we established back in Florida," Maya reminded her. "And you know I'll figure it out the first few days of school, so you might as well spill it, Riles. Who's the lucky guy?"

"It doesn't matter. Me possibly having feelings for someone isn't important compared to everything else going on," Riley insisted.

Maya shook her head. "I don't care what's going on. You being happy is always going to be important to me. So tell me who the guy is, and we're gonna make it happen. Not that it'll be hard. I can think of ten guys off the top of my head who would love to go out with you."

Riley lowered her gaze. "I just want to make sure that I really like the person before I do anything about it. Can we please drop this now?"

"Okay," Maya relented. "But mostly because this kid is wreaking havoc on my bladder. I'll be right back." She stood up and headed off in the direction of the bathroom.

Smackle looked back at Riley. "If she only knew."

"Knew what?" Riley asked, frowning.

"Who you actually have feelings for," Smackle said as she crossed her arms. "If my suspicions are correct, and I'm confident they are, Maya will have quite the reaction to finding out the truth."

Riley's heartbeat quickened, and she gave her friend a pleading stare.

"You can't say anything."

* * *

Shawn and Katy were sitting on the couch and browsing through apartment listings on Shawn's laptop when Maya walked through the front door with a couple of shopping bags hanging from her arm. She dropped them on the floor and collapsed tiredly into the nearest chair.

"Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun with your friends?" Katy questioned.

"I guess you could call it that," Maya mused. "If it weren't for the fact that I could barely find any clothes for my age, my feet feel like they're about to fall off, and my best friend won't tell me who she likes."

"Well, I'm afraid we can't do much about that," Shawn said. "But how would you like having a walk-in closet that's bigger than our current kitchen?"

Katy smiled at her husband. "Did I mention how much I love that one?"

Maya shrugged. "Yeah, it sounds nice. I just hope me being pregnant isn't the reason you guys are looking for a new place. Like I've said, I can stick a crib in the corner of my room. It's not a big deal."

Shawn shook his head. "We were planning on doing this after we got married anyway. We're all starting a new chapter in our lives, and what better way to leave all the old stuff behind than to start over in a new place as a family?"

"I guess I'd like that," she decided. "That's what I want—to forget everything that's happened. I hate thinking about what I've done. And I don't know why you guys aren't still mad at me for lying to you."

"We wish you hadn't done it," Katy admitted. "But we do understand how easy it is to make bad decisions when you're in a stressful situation. Maybe that's what makes us more forgiving than some."

"Think you could forgive Josh too?" Maya wondered.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Shawn advised.

Katy's expression grew thoughtful. "Shawn, he has done just about everything we could expect him to do. He's taken responsibility for the baby, he's been there for Maya…"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Which are things he wouldn't need to do if he had kept his hands off of her in the first place. Isn't there some way we can just keep her at home and away from boys? How about homeschooling?"

Maya cringed at the thought. "Please don't do that to me."

"We wouldn't," Katy assured before patting an empty spot on the couch beside her. "Now come over here and let us show you some of the apartments we're looking at. You'll love them."

* * *

When Lucas walked into his family's living room, he was planning to kick off his shoes, watch some TV, and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. His friends, well, they obviously had different ideas. Riley, Farkle, Smackle, and Zay were all gathered on the couch and clearly waiting for him.

"Well, this explains why the door was unlocked," he remarked.

"Your mom let us in on her way out," Smackle informed him as everyone started to stand up.

Lucas looked at them, confused. "Did we have something planned for today that I forgot about?"

"Nope," Zay replied. "But we do have something that you don't know about. We're headed over to Maya's place, and we're taking you with us."

"Why? What's going on?"

Riley took a small step forward. "She's supposed to find out if she's having a boy or a girl today. We thought it would be nice if she could tell us all together. Everyone she cares about, and everyone who cares about her."

"This is a big moment," Farkle chimed in. "Even if things aren't great between you two, she'll want you to be there."

Lucas shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on, man. This could be your stepkid one day," Zay pointed out.

"And if it is, I doubt it'll care that I didn't find out its gender at the same time as all of you," Lucas countered. "Look, you guys are right. This is a big day for Maya. And it should be a happy one, without any of our problems hanging around in the background. If I'm there, that gets ruined for her. One of you can just text me when you find out."

The others glanced at each other, all of them sensing by the firmness in his tone that he wouldn't change his mind on this.

"Are you sure?" Riley finally asked.

When Lucas gave the affirming nod, his friends reluctantly said their goodbyes and began to make their way out. He then sighed as he sat down on the couch, for he knew that Maya was probably in the process of getting the life-changing news at that very moment. And he found himself wishing that the distance between them could somehow evaporate and that he could be the one by her side.

* * *

"Hello, Maya," Dr. Caston, Maya's obstetrician, greeted with a warm smile for the teenager as she walked into the room where Maya and Josh had been waiting. "How has everything been going? Smoothly, I hope?"

"I think so," Maya responded, shaking the woman's outstretched hand. "Except for all the usual issues anyway. Eating too much, peeing too much, sleeping too much…"

"Just the typical joys of pregnancy, huh?" Dr. Caston extended her hand out to Josh. "And you're the friend, right? What was your name?"

"Josh," he answered as he shook it. "And I'm still the friend, but I'm doubling as the baby's father now too."

Maya sighed at the obstetrician's confused expression. "It's complicated."

Dr. Caston nodded in an understanding fashion. "You might be surprised at how many times you hear that phrase with this job. So, let's check up on the baby, shall we?"

Maya proceeded to follow her doctor's instructions. She knew what to expect this time, so she wasn't nearly as anxious as she'd been at her first ultrasound. And after a few moments, Dr. Caston had gotten an updated and more recognizable image of the baby up on the screen.

"Oh my God," Josh breathed, suddenly rocked by emotions that he had never experienced before. Knowing that it was his own child he was looking at changed absolutely everything. "It's all still good? There aren't any problems?" he asked, cautiously.

"Not as far as I can see," the obstetrician confirmed. "We've got a good, strong heartbeat, and it looks like the baby is developing right on schedule. Would you like to know what you're having or keep it a surprise?"

"I don't need any more surprises," Maya said, not even taking a second to think it over.

"You can tell us," Josh agreed.

"Okay." Dr. Caston smiled as she glanced at the screen and then back at the two of them. "In a few months, you'll be welcoming a little girl."

Maya let a smile slowly spread across her face. "A girl? I'm having a daughter?"

"You are. Congratulations."

Maya managed a 'thank you' before turning to Josh, who was looking at the ultrasound image in complete awe.

"I can't believe it," he said in a near-whisper. "That's my baby girl."

After a brief silence, Maya took a shaky breath. "I have a lot of regrets, Josh. One of them is that I wasn't honest with you from the beginning of all this. But for what it's worth, I'm really glad you're here now."

"There's nowhere else I would be," Josh replied, softly. The statement earned a small smile from Maya before she allowed her mind to wander back to the news she'd just been given.

 _A little girl. My little girl._

* * *

Potential names were already being weighed in Maya's head as she made her way back home. She had a boy's name picked out that would've been perfect, but there were so many girl's names on her radar that she knew it would take a long time to get it narrowed down to the right one.

That was fine, she decided. There was still a long way to go. Even if it was tempting to go ahead and make all the necessary preparations now, it was probably best to pace herself. One day at a time.

When she walked into her apartment, her head was still off in space somewhere, so it left her startled when she was immediately swarmed by her friends.

"Did you find out?" Zay asked.

" _Please_ say you found out," Riley pleaded.

"I think she found out," Farkle commented. "The odds of being able to tell a baby's gender after sixteen weeks…"

"Okay," Maya interrupted, putting her hands up. "I'm gonna need everyone to step back. As much as I love you guys, me and my daughter need a little bit of personal space."

As Riley's eyes lit up, she squealed and hugged the blonde. "It's a little Maya!"

"God help us all," Zay teased.

"How does it feel?" Smackle wondered. "Now that you know it's a girl?"

"Did I just hear someone say it's a girl?" Shawn questioned with a smile as he and Katy approached the group.

Maya nodded. "Looks like pink is my new favorite color."

Katy hugged her daughter, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't believe my baby girl is having her own little baby girl."

"I'm really happy for you, Maya," Farkle said, sincerely, as he became the next to give her a congratulatory hug. "And I hope you know that your daughter doesn't just have a great mom. She has all of us too."

"She always will," Riley added.

Maya glanced around at all of them, these wonderful people that she was so grateful to have in her corner. But as lucky as she felt to have them there, she couldn't help but be saddened by the glaring absence in the room. She attempted to hide this with a smile.

"Thank you," she said, quietly.

Katy put an arm around Maya's shoulders. "Well, we didn't know what color to get, but we did get a cake to celebrate. All of you are more than welcome to some."

"As long as I get a corner piece," Shawn reminded his wife, getting a few laughs from everyone as he followed her into the kitchen. Farkle, Smackle, and Zay trailed behind them.

Riley gave Maya another quick hug. "I have an uncle to go congratulate, but I'll be back soon. I have something for the baby I want to give you. I had a feeling it would be a girl."

The brunette headed for the door before Maya had a chance to ask further questions. She watched the door shut behind Riley and then proceeded to take a seat on the couch, where she let her gaze drop to the floor. Zay caught a glimpse of her from the kitchen and abandoned the noisy cake line to go check on her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

Maya tilted her head to look at him, and the answer suddenly became very obvious to Zay.

"It's Lucas, huh?"

"I didn't expect him to be here," she said, glancing down at her hands. "Especially with things being the way they are between us."

"But you wish he was," Zay responded. "We tried to get him to come, you know. He said he didn't want you thinking about your problems on a day that's supposed to be happy for you."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would say."

He frowned, slightly. "You don't think that's the real reason?"

Maya shrugged. "I don't know. What I do know is that I can't go on like this for much longer. If Lucas can't get past my mistakes, then I have no one to blame but myself. But things have to get settled one way or the other. I don't want my life to be a roller coaster anymore. That's not what my daughter needs, and it's not what I'm going to bring her into."

She meant those words. Maybe she wouldn't be able to give her baby everything she wished she could, but all the chaos and instability she had created in her own life—it would never touch her little girl. Maya wouldn't allow it.


	15. Reasons for Hope

**A/N: Ugh, I can't believe how late I am with this. *Hangs head in shame***

 **But as always, thanks so much to everyone for the reviews/follows/favorites. I know we're really split on what ship everyone wants to be endgame, but I just want to assure all of you that I'm doing my best to keep everyone as happy as possible until the final decision has to be made. :)**

* * *

 **19 Weeks**

The first day of school was supposed to be the easiest day of the school year. You found your classes, you caught up with classmates that you didn't see over the summer, you listened to teachers drone on about their biographies—which was never fun, but it beat the schoolwork that they would have you doing for the rest of the year. To put it simply, there was nothing about this first day that any student should be stressing over.

Unless they were Maya.

The teenager watched the mirror in the girls' bathroom as she and Riley tried, unsuccessfully, to adjust her clothes in a way that would better conceal her pregnancy. She was wearing a loose, extra baggy T-shirt, but that was no longer enough to keep a faint bump from showing through. Probably not enough to draw attention. At least at this moment.

"You couldn't tell two weeks ago," Maya lamented.

"This had to happen eventually," Riley reminded her, gently.

It did. And she'd been mentally preparing herself for it. But while she didn't care what most of the people at her school thought of her, she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending the whole semester as 'that pregnant girl.'

"Are you going to be okay?" Riley asked.

Maya nodded with resolve. "I can handle this. I'm not the first girl to get knocked up in high school, and I won't be the last. What's the worst anyone can do anyway? Call me a slut? I know that's not true, and so do you guys. That's all that matters."

She took a deep breath and then walked out of the bathroom with Riley following behind her. They lingered out in the busy hallway for a moment before they started to make their way through it, in search of their other friends. They spotted Zay first, standing in one of the quieter areas and looking to have just ended a phone call.

"Hey," Maya said as they approached him.

Zay looked up as he put away his phone. "Whoa. Look at _you_."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I know. I'm looking more and more pregnant every day. But I would appreciate it if you didn't bring that to the attention of the whole school just yet."

"You look just as adorable as you always do," he assured her. "But I was actually talking about Riley." He nodded towards the brunette, who _did_ look striking that day. Curled hair framed an always pretty face that was wearing a touch more makeup than usual, and her outfit was the definition of cute—a short orange dress with an added belt and a pair of cowgirl boots. Maya had passed the ensemble off as a first day of school thing, but all the stares and smiles Riley had been getting from guys that morning made the blonde not so sure about that.

"Zay, me and you are starting something called the FORMM committee," she informed her other friend.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know what that is?"

Maya crossed her arms. "FORMM. Find. Out. Riley's. Mystery. Man."

"Maya!" Riley whined. "Can't you please just let that go?"

"Why can't you just tell me?" Maya questioned, still puzzled as to why Riley was being so secretive about liking one of their classmates.

Riley placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and turned her slightly. "Is that Lucas I see?"

Maya needed a chance to talk to her boyfriend, so she gave Riley a look that warned, _You're gonna have to tell me eventually_ , and then she walked off.

Riley watched her for a second or two before turning back to Zay.

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna ask," he said. "I don't want to come within a hundred feet of anyone's secret again. But whoever mystery man is, he's one seriously lucky guy."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your friend."

Riley forced a smile, not letting him see the disappointment in her features as that one-syllable word echoed in her head.

 _Friend._

* * *

This time apart from Lucas had been hard on Maya. As nearly everyone had suggested she do, she'd been focusing the bulk of her attention on her unborn daughter, and that had certainly helped. While it was sometimes overwhelming to think that she would be a mom in a few short months, she couldn't wait to meet her little girl.

But keeping herself distracted from her relationship woes had grown more difficult as the weeks passed. She didn't know where she stood with her boyfriend anymore, and she refused to go on that way.

Which was why she didn't give him much of an opportunity to protest before pulling him into the nearest supply closet.

"We have to talk," she said, bluntly.

Lucas nodded. "You're right. We do. We can't keep going like this."

Maya let out a sigh, relieved that he agreed with her on that point. "Look, I get why you needed to get away from my drama for a while. But right now, the only real drama going on is between us. So can this break thing just end already?"

He took a step closer to her. "You can't keep one foot in a relationship and one foot out of it. I understand that, and that's never something I meant to do. I wasn't trying to hurt you, Maya."

"I know you wouldn't," she said, quietly.

"I've missed you. A lot. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to pick up the phone and tell you that."

She frowned. "Why didn't you?"

"Because the last thing I wanted to do was send you any kind of mixed signal," he answered, honestly. "I can forgive you for everything that's happened. But I can't say that I'm over it. Not when I feel like I can't let my guard down with you, because there's this part of me that wonders when I'll get burned again."

Maya lowered her gaze. She couldn't exactly fault him for feeling that way.

"Okay, well, you see that nothing's getting fixed with this current arrangement, so just tell me what I can do to make things right again. I'll do it. Even if it involves going to some stupid relationship expert like Riley suggested."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Like a shrink? You would do that?"

"Not happily," Maya sighed. "But yeah. I would. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me. And if you can still love me after everything I've done, I think I can bear a few minutes on a couch talking about my feelings. So what do you say? Wanna give it a shot?"

"Yeah. Let's give it a shot," he agreed. After all, what did they have to lose? They were teenagers with absolutely no idea of how to handle the kinds of things that they were dealing with. Maybe a professional could at least guide them in the right direction.

"So this break…" Maya prompted.

"I think we should see what the expert says, and then we'll take it from there," Lucas replied.

She nodded. "Okay."

The two of them then shared a much-needed hug as the bell rang, signaling the official start of what would undoubtedly be a very challenging school year. But at least it had a promising beginning.

* * *

The first day went about as well as Maya could've hoped for. She didn't hate any of her classes yet, and if anyone suspected her pregnancy, they hadn't let on. Though that was likely to change at any time. She felt a little better with her friends' assurances that they would help her through it when it did come out.

After school, she came home to her family's new apartment. They were moved in now, but there were still plenty of boxes that had yet to be unpacked. Most of her things had just been stacked up in her closet. Her room would never stay uncluttered, but she figured it could at least start out that way.

While the place was older, Maya really liked it. It had beautiful hardwood floors in the living room and dining area, and the kitchen featured a nice breakfast bar and new stainless steel appliances. In moving, they added an extra bedroom and bathroom, so there was more space than she was accustomed to. Yet in a weird way, it already felt like home.

Maya was sitting up in her bed, listening to music and sketching some designs for the baby's room when her mom cracked open the door. She quickly removed her earbuds.

"Honey, Josh is here," Katy informed her.

"Really?" Maya glanced at her phone. "He's early."

"He's actually been here for a while," Katy said as she walked in and sat down on the bed. "He wanted to talk to Shawn and me. To tell us again how sorry he is for everything and that he's completely committed to the baby. Shawn made him work for it, but I think they're on good terms again."

Maya smiled. "They're basically family. Dad had to come around at some point." She put her sketchbook aside and started to get out of bed. "Could you tell Josh I'll be ready in like five minutes?"

"Sure," Katy agreed, getting up to leave the room. When the door closed, Maya felt a fluttering sensation inside her and smiled as she moved her hand to her stomach.

"I don't want to jinx us," she said, softly. "Hoping for the best isn't really my thing. But it feels like life is trying to straighten itself out. Maybe if we're lucky, your mom can stay out of its way this time."

She made a silent vow to do just that, before slipping on her shoes to leave.

* * *

 _God, babies are expensive,_ Josh thought, his eyes wide as he looked at the estimated cost for all the things his daughter would need when she was born. And this was if they could do it cheaply. He quickly closed out the calculator app on his phone. Seeing that figure wasn't helping matters.

"Maya?" He glanced around the store that specialized in basically everything baby-related and spotted the blonde, who had wandered into the clothing section nearby. He approached her as she was taking a tiny baby dress off of one of the clothing racks to get a better look at it.

"Find something?" he asked, capturing her attention.

"I found too many somethings," she answered, putting the dress back. "We should've brought Riley. She would love this place."

"That's the problem. We would never get her out of this place."

"True," Maya conceded. "So, I already knew the baby came with a high price tag. Think you can keep the specifics to yourself until a day when I'm already in a bad mood?"

Josh gave her a small smile. "I think I can manage that. Besides, it's nothing you need to worry about right now."

"You mean you're not worried about it anymore?"

"I didn't say that," he replied as they walked back to the main aisle. "But it doesn't affect the baby if I'm worried about something. You're the one we've got to keep happy. Even if that involves me going out to get bacon at two o'clock in the morning."

"I never _asked_ you to do that," Maya pointed out.

"Oh no?" Josh stopped to scroll through the messages on his phone until he found the one he was looking for. "Can't sleep. Craving bacon. And ice cream. We have ice cream though. Just no bacon. I NEED BACON!"

Neither of them could hold back a smile as he said that last part.

"Well, I needed to complain to someone, and you did say we're in this pregnancy thing together," she reminded him as they stopped at one of the display cribs, and she ran her hand along the side of it.

Josh watched her. "I meant that, you know. No matter what you need or this baby needs, you can always count on me to be there."

"Thank you," Maya said, slowly turning her gaze back to him. "I know this isn't what you had planned for your life. But I hope one day—when you're watching our daughter graduate high school, or when you're giving her away at her wedding—I hope you'll be glad you stayed. Because I know she will be."

He stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Come here."

She let him lead her to a small seating area, where they sat down on a bench. He then looked into her eyes and found himself saddened by the fact that he needed to assure her of this again.

"Maya, I would've never walked away. I'm sorry I gave you a reason to think that it was even a possibility. When you told me the baby was mine, I had no idea how to deal with it. My first thought was that I just couldn't. I couldn't be someone's father. Nothing had ever scared me so much. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how scared I was. I had no right to ask you to give up a baby that I knew you wanted to keep. I'm sorry I did that. And I'm glad you didn't listen to me."

"You are?" Maya asked, quietly.

Josh nodded. "When we were at that last doctor's appointment, and I saw her—and it hit me that I was looking at my daughter…I can't explain that feeling. But I get it now. Why you want to be the one she calls mom. And I want you to know that I'll be proud to be the one she calls dad."

Maya wasn't sure if it was those words or her hormones or both, but she began to cry.

"I didn't say something wrong, did I?" Josh questioned, frowning slightly as he watched her wipe at her eyes.

"No," Maya said, shaking her head. "You said everything right."

The two of them then shared a hug, one that lasted just a heartbeat longer than usual.


	16. Connection

**A/N: Okay, REALLY long author's note here. So we're at the halfway point of the story (as I have it planned now; it could end up going longer), but I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the amazing people who have reviewed up to this point. I can't tell you how grateful I am for all the support. So (from the beginning) thanks to:**

 **Lara, ATD, Lucayaaaaa, ameliasmistletoe, Becca, Ella, AngelGirl, ParakeetPower, It'sUhhJakeFromStatefarm, Molly, Codename J.A.M., IlUvSkitTLes, Belle1720, M, lucaya4ever, gmwfan, lucaya, hartfriar, Mynameisjeff1400, RedxHandedxJill, Beatrice, The footballer, emma, Odie Ball, ranggy, joshayagmw, Lilli Stevenson, Karkoolka, Lucayafan, gglover321, Ohfc11, Mskyla123, MayaVazquez, VampGurlKisses, Sarahjoy628, Mrshankly, xxTrueColorsxx, notasbigofajerkasicould'vebeen, Hnimaga, Jorja123, MarkMcG9718, Ariee, Jtwonnn, ChlexLover3, cool coast, A fan, Crystaluribe123, Aloha, Blondie103, MSofiaGuZa, Chickennuggets153, BookLover1670, Chelsea, and all my guest reviewers. You guys are the best!**

 **Okay, now to address some story issues:**

 **The Lucaya/Joshaya situation—I hope you guys like drama because things are going to get messy soon. I think next chapter is the one where you see that starting to happen. Endgame won't be revealed until around the time the baby is born, in case anyone was wondering.**

 **The Riley/Zay thing—yeah, I probably got some WTF reactions on this one lol. I'll go ahead and tell you, it might not be going where you think. I'm considering two completely different options right now, so we'll see what happens.**

* * *

 **21 Weeks**

"Emily?"

"No."

"Sophia?"

"No."

"Bella?"

Maya crossed her arms. "I really don't want to think of Twilight every time I hear my daughter's name. Besides, those are all overused. I want something different."

"Different? Okay, I'm definitely on the wrong website," Josh said, going back to the Google search page on his phone. He and Maya were sitting outside Topanga's and trying to pick out a name for the baby. They had agreed upon a middle name, but the first name wasn't coming so easily.

Josh shook his head as he scrolled down the next list of names. "We go with any of these, and we take a serious risk of her hating us." He handed the phone over to Maya, and she couldn't help but agree.

"I'm not going for _weird_. I just want her name to be hers. And I want it to mean something. You know, show her we actually put some thought into it."

"Is there a name that means something to you?" he wondered.

"Probably," she answered with a small shrug. "I just haven't figured out what it is yet. Maybe I won't until that moment when I'm holding her in my arms for the first time. Maybe we should wait and see what feels right then."

Josh nodded. "We can do that."

"Hello, Maya."

She and Josh both looked up to see an older blond woman who had just approached their table. Josh didn't recognize her, but Maya knew her as none other than Bridget Friar—Lucas' mother.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation," she said in her slight southern accent. "I was hoping I could talk with you for a few minutes. I think that's long overdue."

Josh gave Maya a slightly confused glance before politely standing to give the stranger his seat.

"Yeah, I should be getting out of here anyway." He looked back at Maya. "Let me know if you need anything?"

Maya nodded and watched as he proceeded to walk away.

Bridget sat down in the seat Josh had vacated, giving her son's girlfriend a look that wasn't what Maya would describe as cold, but was obviously lacking in the warmth and kindness that the woman had shown her in the past.

"Maya, I always liked you," Bridget stated. "Part of that was because I could see how happy you made my son. The other part was because of the girl I thought you were. I never once doubted that you were a good person. You always seemed honest, loyal to a fault…"

Those words were like a dagger in Maya's heart.

"I never meant to hurt Lucas," she said, quietly.

Bridget's green eyes softened just a bit. "I believe that. But there's one thing you'll understand once you're a mother. You aren't concerned with someone's reasons for hurting your child. All you care about is making sure it doesn't happen again. And if you and Lucas stay together, I think there's a strong possibility that it will."

Maya stayed quiet, resisting the urge to protest the statement as Bridget went on.

"He loves you. That's the reason he can't let go. But if you love him, you'll realize that's the only thing you _can_ do." Maya opened her mouth to speak, but Bridget cut her off. "Lucas doesn't need this. He needs to be focused on friends, school, being a normal teenager. Things that you won't be able to focus on anymore. You have to let him move on."

She lowered her gaze, slightly. "I thought I'd be doing that a long time ago. I expected him to tell me it was over, and instead, he tells me that we're worth fighting for. I know how rare that is. Please don't ask me to give it up. I can't change the past, but I can give you my word that I'll never do anything to hurt your son again."

Bridget looked at her in a way that was almost sympathetic. "Maya, he's going to hurt a little bit every time he looks at that baby. You can't forget someone's mistake when it comes in the form of a child."

Maya's vision began to blur as tears pooled in her blue eyes.

"My daughter will _never_ be a mistake to me," she stated, her voice cracking. She then got up to leave. The older woman's words had left her more shaken than she was willing to admit.

* * *

Elise Russell had many interests. Traveling, cooking, poetry—the list went on. But her real passion had always been helping people. She considered herself lucky to have a job that allowed her to do that. Giving advice and support to people who genuinely wanted to fix their troubled relationships.

She didn't see situations like Lucas and Maya's very often. Sure, the trust issue was a common one. Lies, secrets, infidelities…they threatened couples on a daily basis. But this story was unique to say the least. The fact that these were only teenagers, which made it somewhat surprising that they were trying so hard to make things work. The fact that all their problems seemed to stem from one single misunderstanding. The fact that a child resulted from that misunderstanding. It just didn't get any more complicated than this.

"I'll be honest with you," Elise said, after they had finished the overview of the past few months' events. "Getting through this as a couple won't be easy. But if you're both committed enough, it's not impossible. With enough time and effort, trust can absolutely be rebuilt."

"How do we make that happen?" Lucas wondered.

She leaned forward in her desk chair. "First off, you guys have to start being truthful with each other about what you're feeling. Lucas, why don't you tell Maya why this lie affected you so much?"

He slowly turned to his girlfriend. "I know you don't trust people easily. And I know you thought I would break up with you once I found out you were pregnant. But I didn't. I thought you were having my best friend's baby, and as much as I hated it, I was prepared to deal with that. So when I found out you lied to me _again_ …"

Maya closed her eyes as those familiar feelings of guilt began to resurface.

"…it stung," Lucas admitted. "I started to question everything. Thinking maybe we've had issues for a long time and I just didn't see them. Because how does it all fall apart over something so stupid? How does that happen?"

Elise looked at them, the sympathy evident in her brown eyes. "Every action has a reaction. Sometimes, all it takes is one wrong choice for things to spiral out of control. Unfortunately, it often takes a lot more right choices to repair the damage."

Maya glanced down at her fidgeting hands, an action that the counselor quickly noticed.

"Your turn, Maya," she said, gently. "You have a lot going on in your life. How are you feeling about everything?"

The blonde gave a small shrug. "Not bad considering how things were a few months ago. I was actually beginning to think that most of my problems could go away."

"Was?" Elise frowned.

Lucas watched Maya with concern. "Did something new happen?"

She briefly considered dismissing the question with a simple 'it's nothing,' but that would've been yet another lie. It wasn't nothing. It was in her head now.

Maya hesitantly turned her gaze to Lucas. "Your mom doesn't think you'll be able to look at this baby without being reminded of what happened between me and Josh."

Lucas sighed. "I knew this wasn't heading anywhere good as soon as you brought up my mom. Maya, I've told you how my parents feel about this."

"She could still be right," Maya said, quietly.

"She's not right," Lucas responded, shaking his head. "When you love someone, you love all of them. Every part. That little girl is a part of you. End of story. We've got our issues, but this is not one of them."

A look of relief came over Maya's face before Elise spoke again. "That's important to remember—that there is a child involved in all this. That's one of the reasons why I would encourage you two not to try and rush things back to normal. You don't need the added pressure right now. Maybe just try to focus on your friendship for a while. I know it gets overlooked, but that's one of the most critical components of any successful relationship. That's also the part of yours that's suffered the most." Her eyes flickered between the two of them. "Is this a plan we can get behind?"

The teenagers glanced at each other for a moment and then gave Elise their consenting nods.

* * *

Cory walked into his apartment carrying a brown paper bag of some grocery items that his wife had requested. He made his way past Josh, who was sitting on the couch with his laptop in front of him.

"It's Saturday, and you're still hanging around here?" the older brother questioned, setting the bag down on the kitchen counter before beginning to empty its contents.

"That's part of the deal," Josh reminded him. "You and Topanga let me stay here rent-free, and I keep my grades up. And do whatever else you guys need me to."

Not exactly an ideal arrangement for someone who had grown fond of college life, but with a baby on the way, he couldn't afford to waste money on housing when his brother had put such a generous offer on the table.

"Well, it's good to see you holding up your end of the deal," Cory remarked. Josh raked a hand back through his hair before closing his laptop and going into the kitchen, where his brother was putting the grocery items away.

"Cory, why does life keep screwing with me?" he asked, the question coming across more desperate than he intended.

Cory looked at him, curiously. "Uh oh. What's happened now?"

"Kaylie messaged me on Facebook. Just now—like an hour ago."

"Ex-girlfriend Kaylie?"

Josh nodded. "I don't know the story. I got the feeling that Brendan dumped her, but all I know for sure is that they're not together anymore. She said he was a mistake, and she wanted to know if I would think about giving her another chance."

Cory frowned. "Please don't tell me you're considering it."

"I'm not," Josh assured him. "And I told her that. But there was a point not that long ago when I was totally convinced that she was the one. So why wasn't I tempted to say yes?"

"Josh, that's not something I can answer for you," Cory replied. "But if you weren't even tempted to give it another try, I think it's safe to conclude that you're over Kaylie. Which is a good thing. Don't question it too much." He gave Josh a brotherly pat on the back before leaving the room and disappearing into the hallway.

"Knock, knock."

The familiar voice made Josh glance into the living room, where Maya had just cracked the door open. He went to meet her as she walked into the room with a plastic bag full of snacks in one hand and a few DVD cases in the other.

"Did I miss some kind of movie night memo?" he wondered.

"It's a last minute deal," Maya explained as she set the stuff down onto the coffee table. "I couldn't go to my meditation thing with Riley because I had that counseling thing with Lucas, so I'm making it up to her with junk food and sappy movies that will make us both cry."

Josh picked up the DVD on top of the stack. "Breaking Dawn? Weren't you just giving this as the excuse for why we can't name the baby Bella?"

"There's a big difference between sitting through a movie because your best friend likes it and naming your firstborn child after its horribly misguided protagonist," Maya pointed out.

"Misguided, huh? You must be Team…" He glanced at the back of the DVD case. "…Jacob?"

She smiled. "Someone had to be, and it sure wasn't going to be Riley." She took a quick look around. "Where is she anyway? Bedroom?"

"Yeah, as far as I know," Josh responded, putting the DVD back down.

"Good. I'm just gonna…" Maya stopped mid-sentence when she felt a surprisingly strong kick from the baby. "Whoa," she breathed, moving her hand to that spot. The first real kicks had started coming a few days ago, but they weren't usually that hard.

"You okay?" Josh asked.

"I'm fine. It's just the baby," Maya replied, smiling as she felt another kick. "You want to feel?"

Taking a hesitant step closer, he allowed her to guide his hand to the spot where hers had been. And after just a second or two, he felt a faint nudge from his daughter. It sent a shot of terror through him and filled his heart with happiness at the same time.

"You think it can't get any more real," Josh said, voice barely above a whisper.

Maya gave a slight nod. "And then it does."

He slowly lifted his gaze to meet hers. Neither of them needed to say anything else. They understood exactly what the other one was feeling.


	17. That's What Friends are For

**A/N: Hey guys! So we finally got an update. I don't know what the deal was, but I've had a serious case of writer's block with this chapter. Hope it turned out okay.**

 **A big thank you goes out to the following people for reviewing: Guest, ChlexLover3, Guest, Blondie103, Chelsea, Guest, Guest, shanarose, katebemwah, ranggy, and Morgan. I appreciate it, guys! And I'm listening to you all, I promise. :)**

* * *

 **23 Weeks**

The line in the school cafeteria had gotten congested faster than usual, thanks to it being pizza day. Lucas, Zay, and Farkle had beat the crowd and were already at their table. The girls didn't see the same urgency in pizza day and had only made it to the cafeteria a minute or two ago.

"This will be Day 8 of everyone's favorite game, What _Will_ Maya Eat Today?" Farkle announced to the other two guys as he looked up from the sheet of paper in his hands. They were all halfway finished with their meals by now.

"Sweet. What's the score?" Zay asked.

"You have three correct predictions. I have two. And Lucas has none."

"That's because I obviously don't take this game as seriously as you guys do," Lucas responded. "I still don't get why you would make a competition out of predicting Maya's cravings."

Zay shrugged. "If we got to watch her eat nasty stuff every day, we might as well have some fun with it." He turned to Farkle. "You can put me down for pizza and ice cream. With a squirt of mustard."

Farkle considered for a moment. "If Maya has access to ice cream, it's usually a part of the combination. But I predict that she surprises us and goes with pizza and pudding instead. Also with mustard. She does eat a lot of mustard now."

"Yeah, that got some looks at McDonald's this morning," Lucas chimed in as he reached for a napkin. "It wouldn't have been so bad if she'd been eating it with something besides pancakes."

"That sounds promising," Farkle noted.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Maya mixing mustard and pancakes?"

"No. You guys have been spending more time together. Does that mean things are okay now?"

He wasn't sure how to answer that question. He and Maya had been doing the things that their counselor recommended, and it felt like they were on the right track. She was making a real effort to be open and honest about everything. He was making an effort to try and understand that it was, in large part, her fears and insecurities that had led her to make the choices she made. But there was still a lot of damage that had been done, and he wasn't sure when things would fully be able to return to normal.

"Things are more okay than they've been in a long time," Lucas finally answered. "We're just taking it day by day, trying not to put any extra pressure on ourselves."

"I give _that_ a few more weeks at the most," Zay commented, pulling the tab to open his container of ice cream. "You and Maya aren't very good at the 'just friends' thing."

"Well, that's not exactly what I would call this," Lucas said, before realizing he didn't have a better way to explain it. "It's complicated," he sighed. "When did life get so complicated?"

Farkle quickly counted back the months. "If Maya's due date is accurate, that would've happened around April 1st."

The question had been rhetorical, but that particular date caused Lucas to shake his head and Zay's eyes to widen a bit in surprise.

"You mean Maya got pregnant on April Fools' Day?" the latter asked, incredulously.

"Wow. I just got here, and I already don't like this conversation," Maya remarked as she, Riley, and Smackle took their seats at the table. "Let's talk about sports or science or basically anything else."

Riley sighed at the guys' questioning looks. "We overheard some freshmen talking about Maya. There are so many rumors going around that aren't true."

Smackle nodded. "Like her not knowing who the baby's father is."

"This morning, I heard someone say you were having twins," Farkle informed Maya.

Zay waved a hand, dismissively. "No, the best one was the one about your family moving to Mexico after the baby's born, so you can pass it off as your parents' kid."

Maya stared at him in disbelief. That was one rumor that she actually hadn't heard yet.

"Where do people come up with this stuff?" she wondered, glancing around at all the little groups that were congregated in the cafeteria. She was more than a little annoyed to find several people looking back in her direction. She had expected questions, had hardened herself against the names that she would be called, but she couldn't stand the whispers and the rumors that were being spread behind her back.

Maya slapped the palms of her hands against the table before standing up, her friends watching with now-anxious expressions as she made her way to the front of the cafeteria. She whistled loudly, drawing the attention of every person in the room. The place fell silent.

"I'm pregnant," she admitted, her gaze moving around the room. "I think that's obvious by now. But most of the stuff you're hearing about it isn't real. There's no twins. I'm having one baby—a girl. I've always known who her father is. I'm going to be the one raising her, not my parents. And even if that one _was_ true, I wouldn't be moving all the way to Mexico to do it." A thoughtful look developed on her face. "A taco does sound amazing right now though." That thought lingered for just a second longer before she shook it off. "Look, bottom line? I've messed up. I've done things I'm not proud of. But that's all over now, so if you're looking for some juicy gossip to get you through the day, you're gonna have to look somewhere else. There's nothing to see here."

The silence remained as Maya walked back to her table. Riley stood up to hug her, while everyone else watched in admiration of the bravery that she'd just displayed.

* * *

Cory walked around the classroom, checking to make sure that all of his students were making progress on their assignment. He had paired them up in teams of two and spread them out across the room. After assisting Sarah and Darby, he made his way to the corner where Maya and Smackle were sitting.

"How are you two doing?" he questioned, already seeing what the answer would be.

"All done," Maya said, proudly. She felt relieved, good even, about the weight that had been lifted off of her at lunch. So much so that she'd found herself putting in twice the effort that she normally did in class. Add the fact that she had a genius for her partner, and you had a team that was bound to be the first ones finished.

"This looks good, girls," Cory smiled, picking up their finished poster. The information it presented was Smackle's; the design and layout was Maya's. "You two can just hang tight until everyone else finishes," he told them, before walking to the front of the room to hang the poster up.

Smackle turned back to Maya. "You know artistic ability is partially genetic. Maybe your daughter will be fortunate enough to inherit yours."

"Yeah, maybe," Maya mused. "It would be cool for us to have that in common. But I'm gonna try to do the good mom thing and support her no matter what she's into. I just hope it's not something awful like beauty pageants."

"Oh, I would never place my child in a contest that grades her on something as shallow as appearance. Though I must say, I can't envision a scenario where your baby doesn't come out beautiful."

The comment drew a small smile from Maya just as the noise level in the room increased, getting the attention of the two girls. It had finally reached the point where their classmates were beginning to try and talk over one another. Maya took a quick glance around the room; Lucas and Farkle appeared to be finishing up their poster, while Riley was still scribbling something on hers and Zay's. Maya's gaze lingered on them long enough for her to see Riley glance up at her partner with a smile.

Maya froze as a realization hit her. She had seen that smile before.

It had been there during the brunette's brief relationship with Lucas. It had been there with Evan, whose family decided to move away just as Riley was letting herself fall for him. And it was there now, aimed at one of the last people Maya would've ever guessed.

 _How did I not see it?_ she thought, mind racing.

"Are you okay?" Smackle questioned, taking note of how pale Maya looked.

She shook her head, slightly. "No. Not if I hurt Riley." Her gaze shifted back to Smackle. "I think I know who she likes, and it's gonna sound crazy."

Smackle sighed. "Maybe not as crazy as you think."

* * *

"Maya!" Riley protested as the blonde pulled her by the hand into the girls' bathroom. "What are you doing? We have presentations in like five minutes!"

"We'll be back, Riles," Maya responded, quickly checking to ensure that they were indeed alone in the room. She then turned back to her friend. "You like Zay. Yes or no?"

Riley's eyes widened. "Why would you think…" she stopped, realizing that delay tactics were utterly useless in this situation. "Smackle told you."

"Only after I figured it out for myself. But, apparently, her and Farkle have known for quite a while."

"I didn't tell them," Riley said, quickly. "And I know you're probably mad that I didn't tell you, but it's really…"

Maya put her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "Honey, think of who you're talking to. I could write a book on keeping secrets. And mine were a whole lot worse than yours could ever be." She dropped her hands back down to her sides. "I'm just sorry that I ever got Zay involved in my mess. If I thought for even a second that there was something between you guys…"

"There isn't," Riley stated. "We're friends. That's all."

"But you like him," Maya countered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Riley didn't respond, only letting her gaze drift down to the tile floor.

Maya frowned. "Riley?"

"It wouldn't work," the brunette said, looking up again.

"How do you know?" Maya wondered.

Riley's eyes began to shine with tears that she'd never wanted Maya to see.

"Because I'm not you," she whispered, the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

Maya didn't understand, but that didn't stop her heart from aching at the sight of her best friend in pain. She thought about how Riley had been these past few months. Caring, supportive, optimistic—always reassuring her that things would be okay. It was Maya's turn now.

"Explain," she implored, softly.

Riley let out a shaky breath as she wiped at her eyes. "You're one of the most important people in my life. You always will be. So I want you to be important to whoever I'm with. I just…I need to know that the next guy will put me first. That I'll be enough for him. I'm never enough, Maya. They always want _you_."

Maya could feel tears welling up in her own eyes. "Riley, I…I didn't know…," she trailed off for a second. "The thing with me and Lucas…you told me you were okay with it. You told me that over and over again."

"I wanted you guys to be happy. And I thought I was over it, because I met Evan, and I really liked him. And then he wanted you too."

The blonde gave her a perplexed look. "What do you mean? He never…"

"I saw one of his text message conversations," Riley revealed, feeling the sudden need to get all of this off her chest. "You remember his friend, Greg? He asked Evan if you were single. And then Evan said, 'do you think I would still be with Riley if she was?' That's the reason we broke up, not because he was moving."

A whirlwind of emotions swept through Maya. Anger. Disbelief. Sadness. Guilt.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked, quietly.

Riley sighed. "I didn't want you to feel like it was your fault. It's not. I know what they all see in you. You're beautiful and funny and interesting, and I'm just…"

"Just the most amazing person I've ever met," Maya finished for her, a fierceness coming across in her voice. "You've stuck by me this entire time, through everything that's happened. You were able to see the good in me when I couldn't see it in myself. And Riles? If something were ever to happen to me, I would be at peace with it. Because I know that my little girl would have you in her life, to watch over her, to teach her the things that I couldn't. You would always be there for her. That's why I want you to be her godmother."

"You do?" There was a hint of hopefulness in those two words, causing Maya to smile a bit as she nodded.

"Yeah. It was an agonizing decision, you know. Me and Josh talked it over for a grand total of ten seconds before we decided it had to be you."

Riley threw her arms around Maya's neck. "I love you, peaches."

"I love you too, honey," Maya returned, hugging the brunette back. _And I'm going to make it all up to you,_ she thought.

* * *

Josh's last class of the day had just finished up, and he was walking outside with one of his new friends, a guy named Tony. The blond twenty-year-old was a community college transfer with a laid-back demeanor and a sense of humor that Josh greatly appreciated, especially on days when he was feeling overwhelmed.

The two were engaged in a casual conversation about one of the NFL games that had taken place over the weekend when Josh's friend, Liam, approached them, fresh out of his own class.

"So, guess whose ex I just had a very awkward run-in with," he said, causing them to stop and turn around.

"Great," Josh sighed. "Look, please just tell me you told Kaylie the same thing I've told her. That I'm not interested in getting back together."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that be obvious? I mean, I haven't known you very long, but you don't seem like the type of guy that would leave his pregnant girlfriend."

Liam's hazel eyes widened. "Whoa, you're dating Maya now? Well, I guess that explains why you aren't giving Kaylie the time of day. How did this happen?"

Josh shook his head at the both of them. "Okay, first of all, I turned Kaylie down because I'm not dumb enough to let myself get played by her again. It had nothing to do with Maya. Which brings me to point number two—me and Maya? We're just friends." He turned his attention solely to Tony. "Why would you think I'm dating her?"

"Why would I think you're dating her?" Tony repeated, a chuckle escaping him as they all sat down at a nearby outdoor table. "Let's see. You're having a kid together. You mention her all the time. You get this dorky smile whenever she texts you…"

Liam looked thoughtful. "You have been giving me a lot of rainchecks lately in favor of doing things with her."

"But it's not like that," Josh said, firmly. "She's my child's mother. I'm just trying to do what any decent guy would do and be there for her. Anything else—no way, not going there."

Tony stared at him, confused. "Why not?"

Josh ran a hand back through his hair. "You want a list? She's my niece's best friend. She's too young for me. She's with another guy." He paused for a second. "Yeah, I think that just about covers it."

They all sat in silence for a moment before Tony shook his head. "Damn, bro. I didn't think it could be done, but you've managed to make my life look good. I might be a struggling college kid, but at least I'm not a struggling college kid with a baby on the way by a girl that I want but can't have."

Liam couldn't help but chuckle at the disbelieving look on Josh's face.

"Did anything I just said sink into that hard head of yours?" he wondered.

"Sure," the blond boy shrugged. "You can't be with Maya. You never said you don't want to be with her. You know, if all the other stuff wasn't in the way. Did you hear him say that, Liam?"

"I didn't," Liam answered with a hint of a smile before turning his gaze to Josh. "So what is it, man? Would you want to be with Maya if you had the chance?"

Josh resisted the urge to protest that the question was completely irrelevant, deciding instead to humor them. He briefly tried to imagine a world where there were no walls keeping him and Maya apart, but he found it surprisingly difficult to do so. Those walls had always been there, baked into any semblance of a friendship that they'd had over the years. He had always understood that she was off limits. But if she was simply a beautiful stranger that walked into one of his classes one day and took the seat next to him, not as Riley's best friend or Lucas' girlfriend, but just as Maya?

"I don't know," he finally admitted. "Maybe if things were different, but that's not the world we're living in. In this world, Maya and I are friends that happen to share a kid, and that's as far as it's ever going. And _that_ is the last thing I'm saying on the subject."

His phone started to vibrate in his pocket, and he fished it out to read a text message from, who else, Maya.

 _I need your help. Can you come over?_

Josh sent back the first response that popped into his head.

 _On my way._


	18. Trouble on the Horizon

**A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone!**

 **So, a quick story update: Since I've decided to change some of the things I had planned (it was just getting way too complicated), we might reach the end a few chapters earlier than I thought. Maybe. Hopefully. It depends on how far the story ends up extending after the birth.**

 **Also, a big thank you goes out to the following people for reviewing: Guest, Guest, ChlexLover3, Morgan, originalguest, Guest, Guest, Megan, Guest, ranggy, Chelsea, and shanarose. You guys give me so much motivation to keep going, and I really can't thank you enough for that. :)**

* * *

When Josh arrived at Maya's apartment, he found her sitting on the carpeted floor of the spare bedroom, a half-eaten taco in her hand and her eyes on the instruction booklet in her lap. It went to the baby crib, obviously, considering there were crib parts strewn all over the place.

"Hey," he said, causing her to look up and offer him a smile.

"Hey." She put the taco down and wiped her hands on a paper towel. "Hope I didn't bother you."

"You never bother me," he assured her, before taking a few steps closer and sitting down on the floor beside her. "So I'm guessing that the box was a little misleading when it said 'Easy to Assemble'."

"No, the box flat-out lied," Maya stated, handing him the instruction manual. "And I figured since I'm about to go into my last trimester, it might be a good idea to get all this baby stuff finished before I'm too huge and miserable."

Josh glanced up from the manual. " _Or_ you can just tell me everything that still needs to be done, and I can take care of it. You're six months pregnant. The only thing you need to be worried about is bringing a healthy baby into the world."

She smiled a bit as she watched him make a first attempt to fit two of the pieces together. "You know, I'm really starting to like having you around."

"Starting to?" he teased.

"You know what I mean. It's nice, having someone to go with me to doctor's appointments and help me put together cribs and get me food anytime I ask for it."

Josh chuckled. "Well, I'm just glad I can help somehow. You've got the really tough job in all of this. Being pregnant—I can't even imagine what that must be like."

Maya shrugged, thoughtfully. "It's hard and scary and overwhelming, not to mention uncomfortable a lot of the time. But it's kind of amazing too. Knowing that there's a tiny little person growing inside of me. And every time I feel her move or kick, it's like I fall in love just a little bit more. It's funny, I never thought I would be the maternal type."

"I would be more surprised if you weren't," Josh said, turning his focus away from crib assembling and back to her. "Look at your friendship with Riley. The way you've always looked out for her. It comes natural to you."

She shook her head, sighing. "Not lately. I did the exact opposite of looking out for her. I hurt her, Josh. And the worst part is that it took me so long to realize it."

"The thing with Zay?"

Maya's eyes widened. "You knew?"

"I had my suspicions," Josh admitted. "She just seemed way too cool with her uncle being the father of her best friend's baby. I figured there had to be a reason she wasn't more disturbed by the whole thing."

"She was relieved," Maya said, burying her head in her hands for a moment before looking back up at him. "What's wrong with me? How could I have not known? And it isn't just this! There are things from forever ago that she never told me because she was too concerned about my feelings. _My_ feelings. Because that's the kind of friend she is. And how do I repay her? I tell her that I slept with the guy she likes. Which really wouldn't be that surprising considering my history of ruining every relationship she's ever had." Maya looked down, away from Josh's questioning gaze. "Don't ask."

He nodded. "Okay. Look, I don't need to know the details, because I know you would never intentionally hurt Riley. You love her. You would do anything to see her happy."

"I would," she agreed. "And I have every intention of making that happen."

Josh looked at her, knowingly. "You're going to play matchmaker, aren't you?"

"Never any doubt. You're going to try to talk me out of it, aren't you?"

"Nope."

The word caught Maya by surprise.

"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to tell me that I should back off and let things happen naturally? Or warn me about the possible consequences of my meddling?"

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that would do any good," he responded with a smile. "Besides, I'll admit it—I'm a little bit curious to see what you end up doing."

Her lips curved into a sneaky smile. "How curious?"

* * *

Josh had used up many of his Friday nights on dates over the years. What he'd never done was spend a Friday night spying on someone else's date. Of course, Maya insisted that it wasn't spying. It was just 'keeping an eye on things' so she could do damage control if something went wrong.

She'd basically tricked Riley and Zay into having dinner together at this casual new restaurant that was a short walk from Maya's apartment. She and Josh were seated in a back booth where they weren't likely to be noticed, while her two friends were several tables away.

"It's been ten minutes," Maya remarked, putting her phone down on the table. "They're both still here, and neither of them have tried to hunt me down yet. I consider this night a success."

"Are you sure they even know this is a date?" Josh wondered.

"I feel sure they've figured it out by now," she answered, taking a quick sip from her glass of water. "So, you've really never done the observing thing before, huh?"

He smiled. "You mean spying."

She crossed her arms. "If you must call it that, then yes. I mean spying."

"No, I guess this is my first time. I'll probably regret asking, but how many times have you done this exactly?"

"A few," Maya shrugged. "Do you remember when you were in town for the summer a few years ago, and you went out with that blond girl who had the meat phobia?"

Josh chuckled. "Single worst date of my life. She ordered a salad, and they messed up the order and brought her a burger. So she has a freak out in the middle of the restaurant and threatens to sue them for emotional distress." He shook his head at the memory. "I didn't know I'd told you that story before."

Maya smirked. "You didn't have to."

He found himself struggling to hide a smile. "Maya," he said, slowly. "Did you sabotage my date?"

"Sabotage. Such a strong word."

He crossed his arms, and she finally threw her hands up in an innocent fashion.

"I was just a kid, remember? And I did have a pretty big crush on you at the time. You can't be too surprised that I would interfere with you and Little Miss Vegan Barbie. But, lucky for you, I did come to my senses before I had the chance to ruin any more of your dates."

"You started dating Lucas."

She nodded. "I figured out that I liked being in a real relationship with someone who liked me back more than an imaginary one with someone who didn't."

He frowned, slightly. "Maya, I…"

"…just didn't like me _that_ way," she finished for him. "I know. And you certainly never led me on. It was all in my head. But I think it was good for me in the long run, you know? Finding happiness becomes even more special when you've been disappointed."

"I always wanted you to be happy," Josh said, sincerely.

Maya smiled. "Is that why you let me eat ninety percent of the cheese sticks?" She nodded to the empty plate in between them, and he laughed.

"No, that was because you ate most of them when I was on that two-minute phone call with my dad."

"Okay, I couldn't have eaten more than half of them in that time frame," she defended. "Besides, I was nervous. I've never set up two of my closest friends before. I was worried that something would go wrong. But, thankfully, everything's gone exactly according to plan."

Josh took a quick glance across the room, and his blue eyes slowly widened. "Uh, was Lucas showing up part of the plan?"

Maya instantly turned around to see her boyfriend in the distance, his hands gripping the back of an empty chair as he talked to Zay and Riley.

"I had to jinx it," she sighed.

"You didn't tell him what you were doing?"

"After everything that's happened? Of course I did." She looked down at her fingernails. "You know, most of it." Before Josh could respond, Maya looked back up, ready to explain. "He knows that I was setting Zay up with someone, but when I told him that, he reminded me that I sort of promised to keep him out of my matchmaking plans after the fiasco that happened at the Halloween dance last year." He raised an eyebrow, and she shook her head. "You don't want to know."

Maya's phone began to ring, and she answered it upon seeing that it was Riley.

"Honey?" she said, hopefully.

" _Okay, peaches. Which plant are you hiding behind?"_

"Six months pregnant, Riles," the blonde reminded her. "There aren't many plants that'll hide me anymore. I'm in the back booth by the side entrance. We're pretty much the only people over here."

" _Wait, we?"_ Riley let out a gasp. _"Is that Uncle Josh?"_

Maya heard the call disconnect, and when she looked up, everyone was approaching them. Josh followed Maya's lead and stood up, though he was starting to get the idea that he probably shouldn't have tagged along.

"I expect this from Maya," Riley said, crossing her arms. "But my own _uncle?_ "

"He didn't have anything to do with it," Maya stated. "This was completely, one-hundred percent me."

"Then why is he here?" Lucas questioned, an edge to his voice.

Zay took a step forward. "How about you tell me why I'm here first. You don't just set somebody up with free food and a pretty girl for no reason. There's a catch in here somewhere."

Maya shrugged. "No catch. I just thought you two would make a cute couple."

"Well, I can't really argue with that," Zay teased, slipping an arm around Riley's shoulders. "What do you think, sugar? You want to be a couple?"

She considered for a moment. "What happens if I say yes?"

His joking expression suddenly changed to one of complete surprise. "Wait, for real? I thought you already liked someone."

Lucas sighed. "Zay. Think this over for a second. If Riley liked someone else, why would Maya set her up with you? _You're_ the guy." He turned to Maya. "Am I right? Because that's the only way this whole thing makes any sense."

"Yeah, it is," Riley admitted. The ensuing silence and all the stares that were focused on her caused her cheeks to heat up and made her feel like she had just made a mistake. "I should go. I need to be home soon," she said, before bolting for the nearby door.

It only took Zay another second or two to snap out of his shell-shocked state and start to smile.

"Riley, wait a minute!"

The other three watched him hurry out the door, and then the awkwardness of the situation set in as they all looked back at each other.

Maya pasted a smile onto her face. "So...I think it worked."

Josh noticed two waitresses whispering as they looked in their direction. "Yeah, maybe we should follow their lead and get out of here," he suggested, turning to Lucas. "Do you want to walk Maya home? I mean, I can if you…"

"I'll walk her home," Lucas said, cutting the offer short.

"Kind of figured that," Josh replied with a nod.

Maya shifted, uncomfortably. "Okay, well, don't forget. Doctor's appointment. Monday. 3:45."

"I'll be there," Josh assured her.

He got a small smile from the blonde before she followed her boyfriend outside. Josh proceeded to fish out a few dollars to leave on the table for a tip and then found himself lifting his gaze to the glass door just in time to see Lucas take a quick glance back at him.

And at that moment, the same surge of envy coursed through the veins of both young men. One tried to ignore it. The other was too startled by it to do so.

* * *

After Maya and Lucas had been walking for a few minutes with few words spoken between them, she looked up at him while they continued to make their way down the sidewalk.

"Want to tell me which part about tonight annoyed you the most?" she wondered.

He looked back at her for a second. "You want to make people happy. I don't agree with some of your methods, but I gave up on trying to stop you a long time ago. I know your heart's always in the right place."

She glanced down at the sidewalk. "It's the Josh part then."

When he didn't deny it, she let out a sigh as she looked back up. "I wasn't expecting you to be there. Obviously, I wouldn't have brought him if I did. I don't exactly have high hopes of you two becoming friends anytime soon."

"Is that what he is to you? A friend?"

Maya frowned. "I don't know what else you would call it. Why, is that a bad thing?"

Lucas shook his head. "No. You have to deal with the guy for the next eighteen years. It would make things pretty hard if you weren't on good terms. Even if there is this selfish part of me that wishes you couldn't stand to be around him."

"Nothing about you is selfish," she responded. "In fact, I'd say it's the complete opposite. I couldn't ask for you to be more understanding than you've been."

"I'm trying."

"I know." They reached her apartment building and walked into the elevator, where it proceeded to ascend upwards, making some unsettling creaking noises along the way. After the door opened and they had begun to make their way down the hall, she slowly turned to Lucas. "So, if you're really okay with me and Josh being friends, what is it that bothered you?"

They reached her door, and he then looked into her eyes. "Maya, what happens if he decides he wants more than that? What happens if he wants you?"

Those words caught her more than a little off guard.

"You think Josh has some kind of feelings for me?" she asked, her voice reflecting how stunned she was by the suggestion. "Why would you think something like that?"

"I just find it hard to believe that he would be concerned with meddling in his niece's love life. It's a lot more likely that he was there tonight for the same reason that I've been there for so many of the crazy things you've done. The chance to spend time with you."

"Lucas, even if that's true, you can want to spend time with someone without wanting to be with them. That's where that friendship thing we were just talking about comes in."

He ran a hand back through his hair. "Look, the last thing I want to do is make problems where there aren't any…"

"Then please don't," Maya implored. "Josh doesn't see me that way, okay. He never has. I mean, I'm sure he cares about me, because of how close I am to his family and now with this baby and everything. But there's no way it's as anything more than a friend."

Lucas sighed. "Okay."

Maya could hear his doubt in that word, but she wasn't sure what else she could say. From her perspective, it seemed like an obvious non-issue.

He went on to hug her. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," she agreed as he let go. She watched him begin to walk away before turning to open the door. She dropped her purse in the nearest chair and then found her parents in the kitchen, munching on what looked like freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey, baby girl. You hungry?" Katy questioned with a smile. Both she and Shawn appeared to be in quite the good mood.

"No, just tired. And confused," Maya admitted. "I'm glad I'm having a girl, because I don't really understand guys."

"Well, maybe I can help you with that," Shawn offered. "What don't you understand?"

"Why Lucas seems to think that Josh likes me."

Shawn and Katy exchanged looks before Shawn turned his attention back to Maya. "Okay, given what happened between you and Josh before, I don't think it would take much to make Lucas think that."

"You and Josh _have_ been getting close," Katy pointed out.

"Because we're having a baby together, mom. Not because he wants to be with me." Maya shook her head, surprised that the idea didn't seem ridiculous to them. "I'm going to bed."

"Night, sweetie," Katy said, watching her leave the room and then turning to Shawn with a sigh. "I hate that her life has become so complicated."

Shawn nodded. "Me too. You know, if we told her, I bet she won't be thinking about boys for at least the next few hours."

Katy smiled. "We'll tell her tomorrow. She needs her rest, and besides, I kind of want this to be our secret for the rest of the night."

"Our secret," he agreed, wrapping her in his arms from behind. "I still can't believe it. Can you imagine how crazy things are going to be around here? You, me, Maya, Maya's baby, and now…"

"And now our baby," she finished for him. "We're pretty lucky, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are," he said, leaning in to kiss her lips. "Even if it's a girl, and I end up outnumbered four to one."


	19. True Feelings

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long hiatus, guys. My family has been going through a very difficult time lately, plus I'm in college and work part-time. It's been a stressful few months. I'm not abandoning this story, I promise. In fact, I'm going to be putting lots of effort into wrapping it up in the not-so-distant future. Bear with me. Big things are in store.**

 **Thanks so much to the following people for the wonderful reviews: Morgan, Guest, originalguest, Guest, Amy, Guest, Megan, Guest, Jess, Guest, ChlexLover3, Chelsea, Guest, shanarose, Sara, Guest, JoshayaFan, Guest, Guest, and unwrittenstar. I absolutely love hearing from you all!**

 **And now for a story-related announcement. So I'd planned on waiting to do the endgame reveal until it was closer to the end, but I don't see the point in doing that when the voting isn't even close anymore. So my decision is made now. Feel free to PM me if you want to know, but it'll probably be obvious by the end of this chapter.**

* * *

 **26 Weeks**

Maya was fast asleep when she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. She groaned; her body wasn't ready to wake up. She heard her mom's voice, but she was still too out of it to pay attention to what she was saying.

"Maya!" Katy raised her voice when she saw that her daughter was going to be stubborn.

"Just five more minutes," Maya mumbled, pulling the covers over her head.

The next thing she heard was an already faint crying noise grow louder, forcing her to open her eyes. She threw back the covers and sat up to see her mom holding the doll that she had to spend the weekend taking care of for her Child Development class. Riley's idea, of course. _You need the practice, Maya,_ she'd said. Which was true, and everyone always said the class was easy, so she really hadn't thought the doll assignment would be all that bad. Boy, was she wrong on that.

Maya took the doll, scanned its sensor with her wristband, and then grabbed the fake bottle from her nightstand to feed it.

"I think I got like three hours of sleep last night," she murmured, looking back up as Katy sat down on the bed next to her.

"No one ever said that motherhood was going to be easy," Katy reminded her.

"But real babies have to sleep sometime, don't they?"

The older blonde nodded. "It just might not always be when you need them to sleep. Especially at first. You'll get her into a routine eventually."

Maya took a little bit of comfort in that. The thought that she would spend the foreseeable future getting three hours of sleep every night was truly terrifying. She'd never make it.

Shawn stepped into the doorway. "Well, look who's finally up," he said, teasingly. "I'm about to go get us all some lunch. What are you girls craving?"

"Eggrolls," Katy replied, without hesitation.

Maya considered for a moment. "Cookie dough ice cream with a side of curly fries."

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Do you ever crave anything that's somewhat healthy?"

"Not really. I don't think the baby's a big fan of vegetables."

"Well, I'm still getting you some real food to go with your ice cream and fries," Shawn remarked with a chuckle. "Be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you, honey," Katy called after him. She then turned her attention back to Maya. "You know, I'd forgotten how strong these pregnancy cravings can be. I'm hoping they don't get too weird this time."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think they could possibly get weirder than some of mine," Maya assured her, before shaking her head. "I still can't believe I'm pregnant at the same time as my _mom_. My daughter's gonna have an aunt or uncle that's younger than she is."

Katy smiled. "We keep things interesting in this family, don't we?"

Maya sighed. "I'm not always sure that's a good thing."

Her mother's smile quickly faded. "I thought you were excited about a little brother or sister."

"No, I am," Maya said, quickly. "I couldn't be happier about that. I mean, I used to ask Riley not to bring up the possibility because I didn't want to get my hopes up. I just…sometimes, I wish other parts of my life were a little _less_ interesting."

"Are you and Lucas still at odds over the Josh thing?"

"I don't know. He hasn't brought it up again, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't let it go either."

"Why do you think that is?"

Maya shrugged. "Everyone knows that his parents want him away from me. They're probably putting ideas in his head every chance they get."

Katy gave her a knowing look, and Maya responded with a slight frown.

"You think I hang out with Josh too much, don't you?"

"I didn't say that. It's good for the baby that you two can be friends. It just seems like…" she paused, unsure of how to word this. "…you really seem to like having him around, Maya."

Maya nodded. "Why does that have to be a problem? I like having all my friends around."

"Baby, I don't think you can lump Josh into the same basket with your other friends. And I certainly don't think Lucas sees it that way."

* * *

"I've never seen so many pregnant women in one place," Zay remarked, glancing around as he and Lucas made their way through the store where Maya bought most of her baby's things. The store was having a large sale that day, so there were parents and expectant parents all over the place.

As the two guys veered off of the main aisle and away from most of the people, Zay turned his attention to his rather quiet friend. They had all noticed that Lucas seemed distracted lately, and it was beginning to worry the teens.

"Have you heard anything I've said today?" Zay asked, stopping in that spot.

Lucas also stopped, giving him a confused look. "Yeah, why?"

"Because you look like you're off in outer space. I bet you can't even tell me what we're in here to find."

When his friend remained silent, Zay sighed. "A mobile. For Maya's baby shower. Riley's been trying to find this certain kind that she knows Maya wants."

Lucas couldn't decide what made him feel worse. That he wasn't paying enough attention to know what they were supposed to be looking for, or that he had absolutely no idea what kind of mobile Maya wanted, and everyone else apparently did.

"What's going on with you and Riley? Is that official yet?" he questioned, an attempt to change the subject and get his mind on something else.

Zay caught on to this. "We're not talking about me."

"So..."

"I don't know what's gonna happen," he admitted, giving in. "We're just kind of taking things a day at a time. All I know is I'm really happy right now. And I want my friends to be happy too, so tell me what's going on with you."

Lucas let another shopper pass by them before he responded. "I _was_ happy. I was really happy. I think a part of me knew from the very beginning that me and Maya were supposed to be together."

"So this is about Maya."

"Yeah. Things were really good between us. I mean, you remember how it used to be. And now...everything's just so hard. It's one issue after another, even when she can't see them."

"What kind of issue can she not see?" Zay wondered.

"Do you two need help finding anything?"

They both turned to see a young employee, who looked tired but cheerful.

"The mobiles," Lucas said, pushing his thoughts away.

* * *

On the opposite side of the same store, Josh was glancing over the selection of baby swings. Maya had apparently received an email the day before, advertising this sale, and had asked him to pick up one. She hadn't wanted to bring her "homework" in a crowded store and get a bunch of stares when it started crying. Which was fine, Josh had thought. He could handle picking out one item by himself.

Or so he'd thought. He finally got it narrowed down to two choices, both being of the cradle n' swing variety, but he was lamenting the fact that he wasn't nearly as decisive on this stuff as Maya was.

"Okay," he murmured. "They both look comfortable. They both play music. There's not much of a price difference. I guess the baby would probably like the one with the lights." He started to reach for that box before noticing something on the other one. "On the other hand, daddy likes the one that says 'easy assembly'."

"Can I help you, sir?"

Josh jumped, slightly startled as he turned to face one of the store's employees. A middle-aged brunette woman whose name tag identified her as Beverly.

She smiled. "It looked like you were having a hard time making a decision. First-time dad?"

"That obvious, huh?" He glanced back at the swings. "Could you just tell me which one of these is better?"

"Well, my daughter bought this one for her first baby, and it lasted through her third," Beverly said, motioning to the one with the lights. "Of course, you might want to get it in a neutral color unless you're assuming all your kids will be girls."

"Oh, I'm not thinking past this baby," Josh replied, taking the pink one.

"You sound like my son," Beverly laughed. "His wife is due the middle of next month. When is yours due?" She noticed that Josh looked slightly uncomfortable and quickly corrected herself. "I say wife, it goes for a girlfriend too."

He didn't see the point in correcting her again, so he just forced a polite smile. "She's due New Year's Day."

That answer seemed to delight Beverly. "A New Year's baby, oh, that's wonderful! Well, assuming she actually has the baby that day. Both of my kids were born over two weeks early. Who knows, you could end up having your daughter in time for Christmas."

"Maybe," Josh agreed. "I hadn't really thought about that."

She nodded, understanding. "We have a fantastic sale on tree ornaments if you want to have one ready just in case." She pointed to the display, and he decided to check it out before he left.

Many of the ornaments were already personalized with various common baby names, which didn't really help. Others just declared the occasion as 'Baby's First Christmas.' Josh looked over the rest of the display, his eyes stopping to linger on one ornament that had a small penguin happily wedged in between two larger penguins. 'Our Family's First Christmas' was what it read.

It almost felt like he was being taunted.

Josh ran his free hand back through his hair, feeling frustrated. Every time he was ready to dismiss that fleeting moment of jealousy he'd had over Maya and Lucas, something like this would happen, leaving him confused again.

What if he _did_ have feelings for her?

"Nope. Not even gonna think like that," he said, beneath his breath. He went on to look at the few remaining ornaments, determined to get these thoughts out of his head.

* * *

That evening, Maya was lying across the foot of Riley's bed, trying not to think about how much she wanted to go to sleep. She'd napped for a few hours earlier in the day, in an effort to compensate for her lousy night's sleep, but those few hours were proving insufficient for the mother-to-be.

She glanced at her friends, who were also lounging on the bed. Riley was changing the diaper for the doll that Maya had 'custody' of for the weekend. The two girls were in the same class; Riley would have her turn with a doll the following weekend and actually seemed excited about it. Smackle was on the phone with Farkle, trying to find out what was taking the guys so long to get there. She suddenly looked up.

"They stopped to get snacks," Smackle informed them. "Any requests?"

"Um…" Riley thought about it for a second. "Ice cream. Doesn't matter what kind."

"I'm not hungry," Maya stated, drawing surprised looks from the other two girls. She smiled and sat up. "Believe it or not, there _are_ those rare times when I'm not interested in food."

Riley smiled back, before placing the doll back in its carrier. Smackle had turned her attention back to her phone conversation.

"Just chips and ice cream, my love."

Maya began to stroke her belly in response to a few kicks from the baby, and she was still doing this when her friend's phone call ended a few seconds later.

"Farkle says ten minutes," Smackle said, putting her phone down on the bed.

"I don't want to study for this test," Maya lamented. "I just want to sleep."

"My poor, exhausted Maya," Riley remarked, crawling across the bed to hug her.

Maya laid her head on the brunette's shoulder. "What happens if I can't get through school and be a mom at the same time? What if it's too much?"

Smackle resettled herself closer to them. "It won't be. We'll all help you with the baby. And with your classes. We wouldn't let you get left behind."

Maya picked her head up and stretched out her arm towards Smackle, who also joined in for a quick hug. They all then let go of each other.

"Ten more weeks," Maya said, taking a shaky breath.

"I can't wait to meet the little princess," Riley beamed.

"Well, the princess' castle isn't exactly ready yet," Maya responded. "There's still a lot left to do. A room to finish, a few more things to buy…"

"Those things will show up at your baby shower," Smackle assured her. Riley was in charge of planning the event, and she was taking her role very seriously.

Maya crossed her arms. "I already told you guys, I don't need some big baby shower."

Riley nodded. "And it won't be anything big. I promise. Just a few of us burying you in presents. Oh, speaking of presents, is there _any_ hope of the baby getting a name in the next few days so some of this stuff can be monogrammed?"

"The baby will get a name when the right one comes to me. If that doesn't happen for a while, things can always be monogrammed after she's born." Maya started to smile. "It's weird, I think my brother or sister might actually have a name first. My mom isn't even showing yet, and they've already got a list narrowed down to five boy names and five girl names."

"Which one are you rooting for?" Riley wondered.

Maya shrugged. "I guess a boy would help even things up in our house. But I keep thinking that a girl would probably be best friends with my baby. So that would be cute."

She didn't really care all that much about her sibling's gender. She was just excited to be their sister. To watch them grow up, to be there for them, to give them her advice and her love. Yet, there was relief in knowing that they were ultimately her parents' responsibility, unlike the child growing inside her. She was glad to have so much support, because she knew she would need it.

* * *

About half an hour later, everyone was gathered on the floor—or on a beanbag in Maya's case—going over some of the questions that would likely be on their test Monday. Several of her friends were snacking on something, and it was the sounds of bottle tops opening, chips crackling, and candy wrappers tearing that was keeping her alert more so than all the voices in the room.

"This question is for Lucas," Smackle said, her eyes moving to the flashcard in her hands. "What event brought the United States into World War II?"

"Pearl Harbor," Lucas answered, easily.

"Correct. Next one's for Maya. Name three of the countries that made up the Axis Powers."

She closed her eyes, thinking. "Germany, Japan, and…Italy?"

"Also correct." Smackle stopped to grab some chips, while a thought occurred to Zay.

"Isn't it weird how countries can fight each other and then turn into friends?"

Lucas nodded. "Guess they eventually figure out that life is easier that way."

"Not necessarily," Farkle interjected. "It's normal for relationships between countries to change over time, just like any other relationship. It's hard to keep them exactly the same when the world is always changing."

Riley looked thoughtful. "Unless the countries adjust to the changes. That's how the strongest alliances survive, right?"

Maya noticed Lucas' gaze drop to his loosely clasped hands as their friends continued to hash out this topic. She wondered if the conversation was leaving him slightly unsettled as well. Because their own relationship had certainly undergone changes, but it was growing increasingly clear that they hadn't adjusted to those changes in the same way that all of her other relationships had.

It wasn't for lack of trying. On the contrary, they'd tried much harder than the vast majority of teenagers would have. But every time they started to move in the right direction, something happened to set them back again. Even if it was, in reality, a non-issue like Josh.

If relationships changed as the conditions around them changed, did that mean there was a chance of her and Lucas never fully recovering what they used to be? Had there been too much damage done? Had life changed too much?

"Maya?"

Farkle's concerned voice snapped her from her thoughts, and she looked up to find everyone's eyes on her. Lucas slowly reached for her hand, causing guilt to flood into her for having these doubts and questions.

"Are you okay?" he asked, softly.

"Yeah," she replied, voice cracking. "I'm just tired."

* * *

Maya stayed over at Riley's that night, finally getting some much needed sleep until the doll woke her up around three a.m. Riley was a heavy sleeper; she didn't even stir while Maya was getting up to 'feed' it. And by the time the blonde was finished with that, her own stomach had started to growl.

"You want me to eat at the most inconvenient times, don't you?" she sighed, looking down at her ever-swelling bump. She rubbed circles around her eyes, waking herself up more before heading out into the hallway.

When she got to the kitchen, she was surprised to find Josh in there cooking.

"Guess I'm not the only one who gets hungry in the middle of the night," Maya noted, causing Josh to look up as she walked into the room.

"Guess not," he said, giving her a small smile. "If you want some Hamburger Helper, it'll be ready in ten minutes."

Maya leaned back against the counter. "I think I can survive that long. Definitely beats the banana I was coming in here for. So how often do you do this exactly?"

"Only when I've given up on sleeping," Josh replied, placing the lid on the pot and moving away from the stove. "Did your mom show you the swing?"

"Yeah. It's perfect. One more thing we can cross off the list."

Josh nodded. "We don't have much longer to go."

"Nope," Maya agreed. "Part of me gets more nervous every day, and the other part just can't stop thinking about how ready I am to hold her in my arms. To look into her eyes and know that everything that's happened, everything we've been through—it was all worth it."

She briefly closed her eyes, looking more and more like something was troubling her.

"You want to talk about it?" he offered.

Maya looked at him in a questioning fashion, before deciding that she wasn't going to bother asking how he knew. All that mattered was that he obviously did know.

"You're probably the last person I should talk to about this," she admitted.

He took a step closer. "Why is that?"

"Because asking you why nothing can go right for me and Lucas would be about like asking a cigarette how you get lung cancer."

Josh wasn't sure what surprised him more—the insinuation that Maya and Lucas were having problems, or the fact that they apparently involved him.

"Did I do something?" he wondered.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I meant lately," he clarified.

"No. We just don't agree on some things involving you."

"He doesn't like me being around," Josh stated, reading between the lines.

Maya sighed. "There's a little more to it, but, yeah, that's pretty close."

There was a moment of silence as he watched her gaze drop to the floor. He could certainly see where Lucas was coming from, but concern for Maya's happiness was the only reason for what he was about to offer. For what he didn't really want to offer. And maybe the fact that he didn't want to do it was why he really needed to do it.

"Would it help if I wasn't around so much?" he questioned. "At least until the baby comes?"

She looked back at him, horrified. "No! You promised me that you wouldn't go anywhere!"

Josh frowned. "Maya, that's not what I'm saying. I was just trying to…"

"You _promised,_ " Maya repeated, hating that she was so panicked by the idea of him not being there. Maybe she'd grown too dependent. She'd let him take care of too many things.

"I know I promised," Josh affirmed, quietly. "I just don't want any more parts of your life to be harder because of me."

"And you don't think that leaving me to deal with the rest of this pregnancy on my own will make my life harder?"

"That wasn't what I…" He stopped mid-protest, realizing that he was saying the wrong thing. "I'm sorry. The last thing I want you thinking is that I don't want to be there for you. You're too important to me."

Maya continued to stare into his eyes, tears beginning to fill her own. She didn't know what was causing them. There were so many things occupying the space in her mind. And maybe that was it—she was overwhelmed by it all.

Josh watched as she used her fingers to brush the tears away before they could stain her cheeks, and then he took her into his arms in an attempt to comfort her.

That was a mistake, for he very quickly came to two realizations that he wasn't prepared to deal with.

One, he really liked how it felt to hold her.

And, two, he didn't want to let her go.


	20. Saying Goodbye

**A/N: Thanks so much to the following people for the reviews: Megan, JoshayaFan, PaintingMusic14, BookLover1670, Guest, shanarose, ChlexLover3, Morgan, Jess, Guest, Whenitsover, Chelsea, Sara, Guest, Amy, Guest, Guest, Guest, Joshaya, ranggy, and Guest. You guys are amazing!**

 **And I'll go ahead and confirm it for anyone who wasn't sure. Yes, Joshaya is endgame. You'll be seeing a lot of them in upcoming chapters, I promise.**

* * *

 **27 Weeks**

After one last stroke of her paintbrush, Maya lifted her hand and glanced over her now-completed painting. At first glance, it was a depressing scene. Dark gray storm clouds held dominion over an afternoon sky. Rain poured down relentlessly onto a small, white gazebo, which sheltered the silhouettes of two people. But there was something beautiful about the scene too. It was in the jagged streak of lightning flashing in the distance, the tall, thin trees swaying in the wind, the way that the two figures under the gazebo held each other close—almost as if to say, _You don't have to be afraid. I'm here._

"That's really good."

Maya turned to the source of the compliment, a girl named Grace. She was the kindhearted, somewhat shy redhead that shared a table with Maya in art class.

"Thanks," Maya said, giving her a small smile. "Yours is too."

The other girl had painted an empty beach at sunset, though hers wasn't quite finished yet. Their class was currently working on nature scenes.

"It took me forever to decide what to do," Grace admitted. "How does it always come so easy to you?"

Maya shrugged, thoughtfully. "I guess I just paint whatever I'm feeling."

 _Which probably isn't the best sign,_ she conceded to herself. A storm symbolized change, uncertainty, turmoil. It represented a fear that she'd rediscovered in recent days, the fear of not knowing what's going to happen next. Being pregnant had made her crave safety and predictability in a way that she would've never imagined before. She needed things to stay the same.

She also knew that they couldn't, at least not where her romantic life was concerned. That became more and more obvious every day. When one of her friends would ask what was up with her and Lucas. When she would answer that they were fine, knowing that it was a lie. When she knew that he was being asked as well, but didn't bring it up to him because she didn't want to have that conversation. She wanted to just keep pretending that everything would work itself out in time. That it could all magically be okay again.

She knew better.

Maya looked up from her painting. Grace had gone back to work on her own project, along with about half the class that wasn't done yet. The other half was chattering quietly amongst themselves. Their teacher was at the front of the room, advising one of the students.

Maya fished her phone out of her purse, only to find that the screen was already lit up with a text message from Lucas.

 _Are you busy this afternoon? We need to talk._

* * *

Feeling pressure was nothing new to Josh. He'd already experienced the strain of the transition between high school and college, which had been a really rough time, but was nothing compared to the pressure of knowing that every passing day brought him just a little bit closer to becoming a father.

What he was experiencing now was a whole new kind of pressure. A weight that he didn't even want to acknowledge, because he knew that acknowledging it would only make life more difficult, more complicated. Things were good between him and Maya; he couldn't afford to mess it all up. But he could no longer deny that he had feelings for her either. He'd spent the past few days wrestling with what to do about this new development, and he still had absolutely no idea.

Which was why he was here, outside of his brother's high school classroom. School had just let out for the day, and he watched the last of the students file out of the room before he walked in. Cory was organizing some papers at his desk when he finally looked up after Josh had shut the door.

"Hey, shouldn't you be at school?" he asked.

"My late class got canceled," Josh replied, letting out a shaky breath. He was admittedly nervous, for he hadn't made this admission to anyone. A few of his friends suspected, sure, but he didn't plan to confirm those suspicions and have them pestering him about telling Maya.

"Can we talk?" he wondered.

"Sure, I just need a few minutes to finish up some of…"

"I like Maya," Josh blurted out.

Cory sighed and put down the papers he was holding. "On second thought, I think these can wait a little longer."

Josh pulled up one of the student desks and sat down in front of his brother. "Cory, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't even know how this happened. I was just trying to do the right thing by Maya and the baby, and the next thing I know I'm spying on dates and looking at penguin ornaments and wondering what life would be like..."

He then noticed that his brother didn't look very surprised at all.

"You already figured it out, didn't you?" he inquired.

"I think a lot of us had our suspicions," Cory admitted. "Every time Maya's in the room, you can't take your eyes off of her. And you use any excuse you can find to spend time with her. That's where you are every time I try to call you."

Josh ran a hand back through his hair. "Okay, so since you obviously saw this coming, we can skip straight to the part where you tell me what to do."

"Well, it looks like you have two options. You either tell Maya, or you don't tell Maya."

"How can I tell her? She's with someone else. And that's not even mentioning the fact that she's sixteen. How would I justify that?"

Cory leaned forward in his seat. "Josh, I don't think an age difference qualifies as a deal breaker after you've already gotten a girl pregnant. You want to try explaining to your daughter that she can't have a traditional family because you're three years older than her mom?"

Josh lowered his gaze. That was a good point. Maybe age _didn't_ matter so much now.

"But as far as Lucas goes," Cory went on. "None of us know what's going to happen with him and Maya, but it's not a good idea for you to get involved in that right now. Maya doesn't need to be dealing with some messy love triangle when she's getting ready to have a baby."

"What if they broke up?"

"She'll still need time to get over it. She's not going to be dating Lucas one day and you the next. Why don't you give it a few months and see what things look like then? Then you can decide on what you want to do."

 _A few months_. That sounded like a really long time to Josh. He'd only begun to accept his feelings a few days ago, and holding them in had already started to drive him crazy. But at least he'd finally been able to tell someone.

"Yeah, I can wait," he agreed. "I want to do whatever's best for Maya."

"I know you do," Cory said with a nod.

Josh looked away, letting what was perhaps the most troubling potential outcome enter back into his mind.

"What if she doesn't feel the same way?" he questioned, turning back to his brother. "I could ruin what we have right now."

Cory shook his head. "You're not gonna ruin anything. You might make things weird between you two for a little while, but that's about as bad as it'll get. You know, I've seen Maya too. It's pretty clear how important you are to her."

Josh managed a hint of a smile. He had a lot to think about and a long time to think about it. In the meantime, he just needed to keep being Maya's friend.

* * *

"You didn't have to wait on me, Riles," Maya said, walking out of her classroom and into the hallway, where Riley was standing.

"You know I don't mind," Riley assured her. "What did Ms. Taylor want to talk to you about?"

"Just the same stuff all my teachers want to talk about. How I'm doing, is there anything they can do to help, the game plan in case the baby comes before Winter Break and I have to miss a few days of school…"

Maya was appreciative of her teachers' concern; she just didn't like the way that most of them looked at her with such sympathy—like her life was ruined, and they were trying to make things just a little bit easier for her.

"You did get pretty lucky on your due date," Riley noted as they started to walk down the hall. "Summer vacation would have been better, but Winter Break is the second-most convenient time for Peaches Jr. to make her arrival."

"Peaches Jr.?" Maya repeated, relinquishing a small smile.

"Yes. I've been calling her 'the baby' long enough. Until you get around to giving my goddaughter a proper name, she will be known to me as Peaches Jr. That's even what's going to be on your baby shower cake unless you name her by tomorrow."

"Sorry, I don't really see that happening," Maya responded. They started to slow down when they saw Zay, Smackle, and Farkle approaching them.

"Well, we've located almost everyone," Smackle said as they all stopped in front of each other.

Farkle put his arm around her shoulders. "We were thinking about having a group date tonight if you guys want. Maybe a movie?"

Zay turned to Riley. "Don't you love how they have to call it a group date now instead of a double date plus the fifth and sixth wheels?"

She smiled. "I think group date sounds much better."

Watching them all caused a sense of loneliness to creep into Maya. She didn't know where Lucas was at that moment, only that he wasn't with her.

"You guys go have fun," she said, forcing a smile. "Me and Lucas have plans already."

The statement earned a lot of relieved looks from her friends.

"We've all been kind of worried about you guys," Farkle admitted.

"I know. You've all told me that."

"So now that this problem of yours is resolved, do we finally get to know what all that was about?" Zay questioned.

Maya exhaled a deep sigh. "I didn't say it was resolved. I said I had plans with Lucas. We have things we have to talk about."

Everyone's expressions turned from relieved to concerned.

"It's nothing for you guys to worry about," she stated, beginning to walk again. They all followed behind her.

"Maya, we're your friends," Riley reminded her. "We're _going_ to worry about you. Especially when you're going through something as big as having a baby. You don't need any extra stress."

"I know. I'm being careful not to stress myself out," Maya said as she went to round a corner. "I've got everything under control."

Suddenly, she looked up and tried to come to a complete stop when she realized she was about to collide with the shadow coming from the opposite direction, but she couldn't stop her momentum and stumbled into the stranger's arms, holding on to them to keep herself from falling.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about…" Maya stopped when she moved her head back slightly and locked eyes with Josh. His eyes widened a bit when he saw that it was her.

Their faces were within mere inches of each other, and she felt her heart beginning to beat faster and faster when she realized that he wasn't moving away from her. _What the hell?_ she thought, mind racing. _What's he doing, and why am I reacting like this?_

"Josh," she said, just barely above a whisper. "I think you can let go now."

He looked into her eyes for just a moment longer. "I think I already did."

Maya suddenly became conscious of the fact that her arms were still wound around his neck. She quickly let go, feeling her cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

"Sorry. W-What are you doing here?"

As he went to answer, Maya's friends were standing a few feet away and not really believing what they'd just seen.

"Guys," Riley said, her eyes still fixed on her best friend and her uncle. "What was that?"

"I think _that_ is our answer to what's going on with Maya and Lucas," Smackle replied.

They all watched the two for a few more seconds until Josh turned and walked away. Maya's eyes followed him, her heart still beating far too fast for her liking.

* * *

As Maya waited at one of the tables right outside of Topanga's, her mind was a jumble of thoughts. She didn't want to think about this impending conversation with Lucas, because she didn't have a good feeling about it. But when she let her mind wander, it kept going back to that encounter with Josh. It had been completely innocent, but something about it didn't feel that way. And it didn't really help when she tried to play it off as nothing to her friends, and none of them looked like they bought it.

She took a shaky breath, deciding that she would rather think about her relationship with Lucas. The relationship that seemed to be crumbling right before her eyes, a little bit more every day. She had to face that. She knew that today was going to be some kind of turning point. She just didn't know what kind it would be, and she couldn't ignore the anxiety building inside of her.

"Hey."

Maya looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. "Hey," she said, softly.

Lucas slowly sat down in the empty chair in front of her, looking about as anxious as she felt. All of a sudden, her surroundings seemed very quiet, and she found herself wishing there were other people around to drown out the silence with their chatter.

"You wanted to talk," she stated.

He gave a slight nod. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

Her gaze flickered down to her hands, and he moved his hand over the table to hold one of hers.

"I love you," he said, their eyes meeting again. "That's never changed."

"But everything else has," Maya said, finishing for him.

Lucas let his hand linger on hers for a second longer before moving it away. "I always knew things would change. You're having a baby; how could they not? I just thought things between us would stay the same. And they haven't. We're not happy anymore. We haven't been in a long time."

Maya couldn't deny that. "So what do we do? What can we try that we haven't already tried?"

"I don't know if there is anything left to try."

She looked down as those words sunk in. "You want to break up."

He shook his head. "No. That's not what I want. But if we don't, you're just going to keep slipping further and further away. And I don't want to lose you like that—slowly, bit by bit. It's got to be a clean break."

Maya had recognized the possibility, maybe even probability, of hearing words like these. She still wasn't entirely prepared for them. To be told that the only relationship she'd ever been in was over. There was a part of her that didn't really believe it.

"This is because of me, isn't it?" she asked. "Because of all the stupid things I did. If I had just told you everything from the beginning…"

"That's not why we're here. At least it's not most of it," Lucas said. "I chose to try and move on from all that. The only thing I really couldn't get past was the idea of coming in second with you to some other guy."

Maya was hit with a flashback of herself and Josh in the school hallway earlier. She quickly shook the image out of her head.

"That wouldn't have happened."

"It would've happened," Lucas returned. "You and Josh—you just keep getting closer. And when the baby comes, you're gonna start wondering what it would be like to be a family with him. If you haven't already."

"No. I haven't," Maya insisted. "Josh was never going to be an issue, okay? He doesn't want me. He never did want me. He's never _going_ to want me. If he did, I seriously doubt he'd be offering to stay away from me to help _our_ relationship."

Lucas stayed quiet for a moment. "He offered to do that?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"What did you say?"

Maya slowly glanced down at her hands, unable to hold eye contact with him.

He sighed. "That's what I thought."

Lucas stood up and took a few steps away from the table. Maya got up and followed him. His back was turned to her.

"Lucas, what did you want me to say?" she wondered. "I had to think about my daughter. She needs him."

He turned back to her. "No, Maya. _You_ need him. Do you remember when I told you that I thought he had feelings for you? I didn't want you to try and convince me that I was wrong. I wanted you to say that it wouldn't matter. Because _you_ don't have feelings for _him_. But you didn't say it then, and you're not saying it now."

"I didn't know that you…" She abruptly decided to cut her protest short. "Fine. I don't have feelings for Josh. Does that change anything?"

"No. That wouldn't change our situation, even if I believed you."

"What, so you _don't?_ "

"Maya, you lied to me and everyone else about the baby's father because you thought you were doing what was best for _Josh._ So this offer he made you? It's not even the first time you've decided that _he's_ more important to you than I am."

Maya could see the hurt in his eyes, and she didn't know if she had ever felt so terrible. Some of her actions—they hadn't felt like she was making a choice between Lucas and Josh, but maybe, in a way, she was. She'd had a few different reasons for keeping up a lie about her child's paternity, but the other one—turning Josh down when he suggested that he stay out of the way for a while—that was obvious evidence as to which guy she was more afraid of losing.

 _Because of the baby,_ she thought to herself. Her daughter was the reason she couldn't lose Josh. Not because she had some sort of hidden feelings for him. She didn't. She'd gotten over that crush of hers a long time ago. That thing at school earlier…she'd just been caught off guard by it. She'd narrowly avoided a fall; that's why her heart had been beating so fast. She didn't like Josh that way. She didn't. But she was starting to see why Lucas would reach that conclusion.

"Maya?"

She looked up at the sound of Lucas' voice, and tears began to fill her eyes. "I'm so sorry. For everything. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Come here," he sighed, taking her into his arms. "I know you didn't. Maybe this is just the universe's way of saying it wasn't meant to be."

Her tears started to stream down her cheeks as she closed her eyes. It all suddenly felt so final. And it most likely was. She didn't have any delusions that they would be able to go back to being friends. At least not for a long time. Not after all they had been through.

"Take care of yourself," he whispered, before finally breaking away from her.

She nodded, wiping at her eyes. "You too."

And then she watched him turn to walk away.

Maya stood alone for a few seconds and proceeded to ease herself down into the nearest chair, letting it truly sink in that one chapter of her life had just ended. She really didn't know how to feel. There was sadness. There was regret.

A gust of autumn wind blew through her hair, and she noticed a tiny, white slip of paper being tossed around in the breeze. Her eyes followed it until it finally landed just in front of her feet. She could now easily tell that it came out of a fortune cookie. She leaned over to pick it up, thinking it might be something she needed to hear like _Tomorrow is a new day_ or _Everything happens for a reason._

She straightened out the slip of paper with her fingers and read the message.

 _A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built._


	21. State of Denial

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while, guys. I expected it to be one of the shorter chapters, and it ended up being the longest one yet. By far. Not sure how this happened lol.**

 **Special thanks to the following people for the reviews: PaintingMusic14, Morgan, Guest, Meagan, Guest, nikatsu, Guest, ranggy, Jess, Guest, shanarose, Guest, Sara, Whenitsover, MarkMcG9718, Amy, jjauthor21, Joshaya, Laugh instead, Sky, sleekiest, and 5thousand25hundr.**

 **For the couple of people that were upset about the Lucaya breakup—guys, I'm sorry. I really hate disappointing anyone, but I always said I was likely to go with the ship that had more votes. Hope you all understand.**

 **For my Joshaya fans, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it. This chapter is basically nothing** _ **but**_ **Joshaya stuff lol. Everybody else will be back in the next chapter.**

* * *

 **28 Weeks**

Josh tapped his fingers against the armrest of the chair he was sitting in, while waiting for his friend's phone call to end. They were currently in the photography studio that was owned by Tony's aunt. One of her employees was moving in January, so Tony—who worked there on weekends—was trying to help Josh get to the front of the line for the soon-to-be job opening.

The timing was perfect. It would be after the baby was born and things had a chance to settle down. Plus, his class schedule for the upcoming semester would be much easier to work around than the one he'd had this semester. It would still be a lot on his plate, but it would be manageable.

"Okay, I'll tell him. Thanks, Aunt Lynne."

Josh glanced across the desk to where Tony was sitting, as his friend hung up the phone.

"I'm pretty sure I've got you in if you don't blow the interview," the blond boy informed him. "Aunt Lynne said she can talk to you after her appointment this morning. You _can_ stick around, right? There's not a certain girl waiting on you to bring her pickles and ice cream? Or to take her to childbirth class?"

Josh rolled his eyes at his friend's teasing, even as he allowed himself the slightest of smiles at the mention of Maya. "No," he answered. "I don't think Maya's ever craved pickles, and that birthing class isn't for another two weeks."

Tony chuckled. "Bet you're looking forward to it. That's the closest thing to a date as you're gonna get at the rate you're going."

"I'm being patient," Josh said, shrugging.

"You call it patience. I call it being a chicken."

"Which is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. No offense, Tony, but most three-year-olds have more patience than you do."

"That might be," Tony conceded. "Doesn't mean you're being any less of a chicken. Dude, she's single now. You're not breaking any kind of moral code by telling the girl you like her. Have you thought about how much it would suck to find out you waited around too long, and she's already moved on with someone else?"

Josh let that thought roll around in his head for a second before dismissing it. "That's not gonna happen. Maya wouldn't just jump straight into another relationship, especially when she's about to have a baby. She needs time. I'll tell her when she's ready to hear it."

"And how are you supposed to know when she's ready?"

"I just will," he replied, not having an actual answer for the question.

Tony started to speak again, but was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. Josh watched Tony pick it up and greet the person on the other end, and then he let his gaze wander to the nature-themed calendar on the wall behind his friend. He reminded himself that waiting was the right thing to do. Of course he was happy—thrilled, actually—that there was now nothing standing between him and Maya. But he knew that the breakup hadn't been easy for her, and he wasn't going to make this time even more confusing by telling her something that would change things so dramatically between them.

That incident in her school hallway had messed things up enough. Since then, he couldn't help but feel like things had been off—Maya trying a little too hard to keep their conversations light and casual, the way she appeared increasingly conscious of their hands accidentally brushing against each other or how close they were standing to one another while talking.

He wasn't sure what any of it meant, but he figured it probably stemmed from Riley pointing out the optics of their encounter to her, just as she had to him. His niece later asked him, point-blank, if there was something going on between him and Maya. He'd said no.

Josh heard the door chime as it opened. Tony glanced up and put his hand over the phone speaker just long enough to say, "You can sit down. I'll be right with you."

It was only when the person went to sit down in the chair next to Josh that they shared a glance, and he realized it was Maya. She looked equally surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, in a low voice.

"Seeing about a job. What about you?"

"I got one of those pregnancy photo shoots for a baby shower gift. Figured the least I could do was show up for it."

Tony had started to watch them, curiously, even as he continued his phone conversation. Josh felt a sense of dread building inside him when he noticed the flicker of recognition—and then mischief—in his friend's blue eyes.

"Alright, we'll see you guys next week. Have a good day," Tony said, before hanging up the phone and turning his attention to Maya. "Sorry about that. Do you have an appointment?"

"At nine," she responded with a nod. "It should be under the name, Maya."

He started to smile. "Maya, huh? That's a nice name. You know, I've got a friend who's in love with a girl named Maya."

Josh narrowed his eyes at him.

"That's nice," Maya remarked, obviously thinking nothing of it.

"No, not really," Tony went on, much to Josh's dismay. "It's actually kind of a sad story. See, she doesn't…"

The door made a chiming noise as it opened again. Everyone glanced that way, and Josh let out a sigh of relief as Sylvia, another employee, walked in. She did hair and makeup.

"Hey guys," she greeted, before turning specifically to Maya. "Are you the nine a.m. appointment?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Great, you can come with me," Sylvia said. She proceeded to lead Maya to the back area of the studio.

Josh crossed his arms as he looked back to Tony. "And you wonder why I've never introduced you two before."

* * *

Maya watched her reflection in the mirror while Sylvia worked on separating sections of her hair so she could deal with one at a time. The teen found it strange that her reflection could appear so calm, yet, inside, she could feel so lost and confused. But maybe that came with trying to grapple with two difficult situations at once.

Her breakup still hurt every time she thought about it, but at least now she could see that it was probably for the best. Lucas was right. They hadn't been happy in a long time. It was just really hard to let go, especially when it meant that he would no longer be a part of her life. But she understood that it had to be that way for either of them to move on. Trying to go back to being friends would be too painful, at least for the foreseeable future.

Of course, the consequence of this was that their tight-knit group of friends was now…not so tight-knit. They had all been shuffling themselves between her and Lucas, trying to find a way to be there for the both of them. She didn't know how they could possibly keep doing that for long without having to ultimately choose, and she felt terrible for putting them in that position. It was why she made sure they all knew how much she appreciated them. It was for their benefit that she'd pasted a smile onto her face and pretended to enjoy every minute of her baby shower, when she really wasn't in any mood for a party. It was her reason for trying so hard not to snap when they kept asking what was going on with her and Josh, and if he was the reason that she and Lucas had broken up.

Josh. And that would be her second situation.

She'd tried to brush off the incident between them at her school as nothing, but she was having trouble putting it completely out of her mind. And how could she? When everyone else seemed to think there was something to it, and she was sure that Riley had brought it up to Josh as well?

It had made things unnecessarily awkward between them. The last thing she wanted him thinking was that she and Lucas broke up because she had some sort of feelings for him. Just the idea of that thought crossing his mind left her feeling embarrassed. Especially when she recognized that some of her actions probably supported such a conclusion.

And then there was that pesky little voice that would occasionally creep into her head and toy with her, saying things such as, _Your friends know you. Maybe they're seeing something you're not seeing._

 _No. They're not,_ her mind would counter. _They just want a reason for why me and Lucas didn't make it. And I don't have that answer._

"Are you always so quiet?"

Sylvia's voice broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. She glanced at the woman's reflection in the mirror. Her dark eyes were still focused on Maya's hair. Maya felt her slip a hair pin in it, and then Sylvia took a moment to tuck a loose strand of her own straight, ebony hair back behind her ear.

"Sorry, I guess I just have a lot on my mind," Maya stated, quietly.

"Oh, it's nothing to apologize for," Sylvia assured her. "The girls who come in here for these photo shoots usually just seem so excited. You can't get them to shut up the entire time. But I had my first baby last year, so I definitely understand what that's like."

Maya sighed. "I want to be excited. I _am_ excited. I can't wait for my daughter to be here. It's just that my personal life has been one giant mess. Like a soap opera-level mess."

Sylvia smiled as she brushed a section of Maya's hair. "It can't be that bad."

"Yeah? I spent the past seven months dating one guy while I was carrying another guy's baby."

There was a brief silence before Sylvia spoke again.

"Okay. That sounds…complicated."

"You don't know the half of it. But I'm not in that situation anymore, because my boyfriend…" Maya stopped, closing her eyes for a second. "My _ex_ -boyfriend…broke up with me. He had this idea that something's going on between me and my baby's father. It isn't, but I guess I gave him enough reasons to think it was. And now that's what all my friends think too."

Sylvia looked confused. "So, is the problem that your boyfriend broke up with you, or that a bunch of people think you have feelings for your child's father?"

"Both?" Maya answered. "I mean, Lucas said that we would've been over anyway, whether I had feelings for Josh or not. Things between us weren't the same. I didn't want to see it, but he was right. It just bothers me that everyone thinks Josh is the reason for that."

"Why does it bother you so much if you know it's not true?" Sylvia wondered, her attention turned back to styling Maya's hair.

Maya stared at her reflection in the mirror, as if she thought that the young blonde looking back at her might be a little less confused than she was.

"I don't know," she finally admitted.

* * *

 _God, she's beautiful,_ Josh thought. He was standing off to the side, watching Maya pose for the camera. She was now wearing a long, flowy, light pink dress; her hair cascaded down her back in soft curls. He kept having to remind himself to breathe.

"Watch it, Romeo. You're staring," Tony informed him with a teasing smirk.

"No I'm not," Josh said, turning to his friend. "And shouldn't you be working or something? Or really anything that doesn't involve you trying to meddle in my life?"

"Oh, come on. I wasn't _actually_ going to tell her anything."

"No, you were going to drop hints until she figured it out on her own. I think I can handle this without somebody trying to play matchmaker. So no more of your subtle little comments to Maya. Please."

Tony smiled. "Yeah, yeah."

"Okay, I think we've got it," they heard the photographer, Lynne, announce. The door then chimed, and Tony went to assist the woman walking in. Josh slowly made his way over to Maya and Lynne.

"So this is just you?" Lynne was asking.

Maya gave her a slightly confused look.

"Usually, we have the father in some of the shots too," the brunette woman explained.

Maya noticed Josh and turned to him, looking unsure. "Did you want to be in any of the pictures?"

Lynne's gaze switched between the two of them; she was surprised to realize that this was the girlfriend of the kid that she was considering hiring.

"Not unless you want me to be," Josh told Maya. "I mean, I can though. It's whatever you want."

Maya was hesitant to respond. On the one hand, of course she wanted him to. He was the baby's father after all. On the other hand, they weren't a couple. Those kinds of pictures usually looked pretty romantic, and things had already gotten weird enough between her and Josh. But saying no just didn't feel right.

"It doesn't matter to me," she said, keeping her tone casual.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter to me either," he agreed.

Lynne started to smile. "Come on now, guys. It's not that hard of a decision. How about we just go ahead and take a few? We don't want you changing your mind and having to schedule another appointment."

The parents-to-be looked at each other and then reluctantly went to take their places in front of the backdrop.

Lynne couldn't recall a time where she'd had so much trouble getting a couple into a pose. It was as if these two had to think through every move she directed them to make. After asking them to get a little bit closer about five times, she finally had them situated.

They were turned at a slight angle from the camera. Josh was standing behind Maya, his arms wrapped around her waist with both teenagers resting their hands on her swollen belly. Her hands were partially covering his.

 _What the hell am I doing?_ Josh found himself thinking. He was in waiting mode; he didn't need to keep getting into situations like this. Where they were this close, where it felt this right…

He took a shaky breath in an attempt to clear those thoughts from his head.

"You okay?" Maya questioned, her lips being the only thing to break out of pose.

"Yeah," Josh replied. "You?"

"Yeah."

Except she wasn't. The longer they stood this way, the more the awkwardness of the pose dissolved and the more natural it started to feel. Like she was melting into his embrace. And that feeling was making her very nervous.

"Okay, that's good," Lynne announced. "Now let's try this…"

She continued to situate Maya and Josh in a few more poses, never being told that they weren't actually a couple. Why? Because Josh kept wanting it to last just a little bit longer, and Maya's hesitant mind was shutting itself down, surrendering to what felt like a magnetic force pulling them towards each other—a force that seemed to strengthen with every flash of the camera…

* * *

Looking back, that portion of the photo shoot was mostly a big blur to Maya. She hadn't fully realized what was happening until after it ended, when Lynne started gushing to them about how great they looked together and how much chemistry they had. Then when Josh finally informed her that they were just friends, she couldn't seem to believe it. The whole scene was awkward and exactly what they _hadn't_ needed.

And as much as she didn't want to have another difficult conversation, she now felt that there was no way around it. Josh was going to be in her life for the next eighteen years; she didn't want other people's opinions and assumptions making things weird between them.

"Think you're gonna get the job?" she questioned, while trying to figure out a way to approach the topic. They were walking down the street after grabbing some lunch.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Hopefully. If not, there are plenty of other things out there. Plus I've been able to put some money away."

The advantage of his current living situation. Of course, Josh planned on getting an apartment once he knew he could afford it. And Maya had no intention of allowing her parents to continue to house her and the baby after she graduated high school, but that was still a year and a half away. She had some time.

Maya's feet were starting to hurt, so she stopped when they came to an empty bench. The two of them sat down, and then she hesitantly turned to look at him.

"Look, about the photo shoot…" she started.

"I'm sorry about that," Josh said, immediately. He'd been thinking about it too—wondering if she'd been uncomfortable, thinking he should've flat-out declined to be a part of it.

"What are you sorry for?" Maya asked, confused.

"Making things weird. I should've explained the situation a lot sooner. I guess letting people think what they want is just easier. And you don't get all kinds of crazy looks."

She glanced down at the sidewalk. "Yeah, I know how that is."

Maya was just at the point where she really didn't care. She'd had to explain her situation to so many people that the looks she would sometimes get didn't bother her anymore. So, why couldn't she get out three simple words to one photographer? _We aren't together._

She shook the thought away; she was only confusing herself.

"You okay?" Josh inquired.

"Not completely," Maya answered, bringing her gaze back to his. "You probably know this already, but everybody thinks there's something going on between us."

His heart started to beat faster, but she couldn't tell that he was anything other than calm. While her own cheeks were growing hot. She really hadn't wanted to bring up this subject.

"Yeah," he finally affirmed. "Riley might have asked me about it a few times. I think she's got this idea that I'm the reason you and Lucas broke up."

Maya looked down. "You were a part of it. Lucas thought there was something going on too."

 _Is he right?_ That question was so very close to rolling off the tip of Josh's tongue, but he was able to rein it back in at the last second.

"I never tried to cause problems between you two," he said, instead. "You know that, right?"

She nodded, looking back to him. "It wasn't you. It was me. I was a terrible girlfriend. I kept screwing up, over and over again, and it eventually got to the point where we couldn't be fixed."

Josh shook his head. "Don't put it all on yourself. Relationships don't work out sometimes. Actually, they don't work out most of the time. But that just makes it mean more when you find the one that does."

"If that ever happens."

"It will," he promised, letting a few seconds of silence linger between them before speaking again. "You seem better now than you did a few days ago."

Maya granted him the tiniest hint of a smile. While she was still hurting, she had moved into the acceptance stage. She'd done her fair share of crying and moping around, but now she really just wanted to put it all behind her and focus on the future.

"Life goes on," she stated, simply. "I'm having a baby in eight weeks. And my baby needs me to be more focused on her than my relationship status."

 _She needs that from both of us,_ Josh thought. Yet another reason for him to keep quiet for now.

"So what do we do about what everyone thinks?" Maya wondered.

"I don't think there's much we can do if people are determined to believe that something's going on. We know there isn't."

"Exactly, so _why_ can't they accept that?"

Josh could hear the frustration in her voice, but he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"This really bothers you," he noted.

Maya sighed as she raked a hand back through her hair. "I don't want another mess to clean up. And that's what'll happen with all my friends thinking something that doesn't have any truth to it."

"Well, maybe we should figure out why they think there's truth to it," he suggested. "Then you might be able to figure out how to get them to drop it."

She felt her heart begin to beat faster; she wasn't sure about this.

"Okay," she agreed, hesitantly. "I guess it's probably because me and Lucas broke up. And you were kind of an issue for us, so…" she trailed off and then reset her thoughts. "…but that was just about him feeling like I was always choosing you over him. I don't think he really understood that I was just trying to do what was best for my daughter."

Josh gave her a slight nod. "I can see why Lucas would have a hard time understanding that. I don't think it would be that hard for Riley or the rest of your friends though."

Maya's gaze dropped to the ground. She felt the reddening in her cheeks and hoped it wasn't as obvious to him as it felt to her. This was the part she _really_ hadn't wanted to mention.

"They think I look at you differently than I look at other people," she managed to admit, her eyes still concentrated on the sidewalk.

Try as he might, Josh couldn't stop a smile from tugging at his lips. For this reason, he was glad that she wasn't looking at him. He watched a gentle breeze blow through her hair and forced away all but a hint of the smile that had been on his face.

"Do _you_ think you look at me differently than you look at other people?" he asked.

"No!" she responded, her wide eyes darting back to him. The swift and defensive nature of her answer didn't escape either of them, and Maya quickly made a move to recover. "I mean, I look at you the same way I look at all my friends. Because that's what we are. So if you're worried that me and Lucas breaking up means that I might decide to go after you…"

"Worried isn't exactly the word I would use," Josh said, honestly.

"Yeah, scared would probably be more accurate. And you don't have to be. I'm sure I'll want to date again someday, if it's the right time and the right guy. But I figured out a long time ago that you're not him. So you're safe."

 _I don't want to be safe,_ his mind was screaming. He was so tempted to just lay everything out on the line right there. Would she still be convinced that he wasn't the right guy if she knew?

She couldn't be. There _was_ something between them; he didn't imagine it all.

"I need to be getting home," Maya said, standing up.

Josh stood up too. "I can walk you if you want," he offered.

"Thanks, but I think I can manage," she replied, forcing a smile. She didn't want to continue this conversation. It was too uncomfortable. Then there was the ache in her chest that was getting harder and harder to ignore. The painful sensation didn't feel like something that had just popped up; it felt more like something that had been a part of her all along—like a medical condition that people can almost forget they have, because they take medication that's so good at treating the symptoms.

"So I'll see you later then," Josh stated.

Maya nodded. "Yeah."

She then proceeded to walk away. But this mysterious ache of hers didn't really begin to ease until she got her mind focused on other things besides what had been going on in her life lately. She thought about the algebra test she had next week. She thought about the upcoming holiday season. She thought about all the new baby clothes she'd gotten and how adorable her daughter was going to look in them. That image brought a small smile to her face.

And then she saw that couple.

They were probably in their late twenties or so. The dark-haired man that had an arm wrapped around the shoulders of a blonde woman as they walked down the street. They were both smiling as they talked to each other. Maya watched the woman snuggle further into her partner's embrace, while he leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

The next thing Maya knew, she was remembering the feeling of Josh's arms wrapped around her when they were taking pictures. How perfectly she had fit into them…

Lost in her memory, she didn't notice the little boy who had approached her with a box of candy bars.

"Hi, do you wanna buy a…"

"I don't like Josh!" she insisted, causing the boy to jump.

"Um, okay…well, my name's _Jacob_ ," he informed her. "Do you wanna buy a candy bar for my school?"

Embarrassed by her outburst, Maya quickly fished some money out of her purse and sent the boy on his way. She then let out a heavy sigh, deciding that she really needed to get home and take a nap. She obviously wasn't thinking clearly.


	22. Intervention

**A/N: Sorry for these long chapters, guys. I'll try to make the next one shorter so the update comes faster.**

 **Thanks so much to the following people for reviewing: Jess, Guest, Morgan, Guest, Whenitsover, Meagan, Guest, Amy, shanarose, Laugh instead, Guest, Guest, Sara, ChlexLover3, Joshaya, Guest, Joshaya-Lucaya, and Alwaystoolate. You guys are so incredibly sweet with your comments, and I just want you all to know how much they mean to me. Seriously, you're amazing. :)**

* * *

 **30 Weeks**

 _Normal kids get out of school early to go to the dentist,_ Maya thought to herself. _I get out of school early to learn how to push a baby out of my body…_

She glanced down at her now quite large baby bump as she moved a hand over it. "Guess I kind of owe you for getting me out of algebra," she remarked. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Rials was gonna give a pop quiz today, and mama wasn't even close to ready for that one."

Maya felt a kick from the baby, and she let a small smile play on her lips. Sometimes it seemed like her daughter was actually responding to the things she said.

She continued to stroke her belly while looking around at the hospital waiting area where she was sitting. Only a few people were there; it was still about half an hour before her birthing class began.

Maya turned her attention to the pamphlets that were lying on the small table beside her. They were all about either pregnancy or caring for a newborn. Getting bored, she picked up the one explaining the different birthing options and read the descriptions of each. Though her mind was pretty much set on a standard hospital birth. She wanted as little pain as possible.

"Somebody ordered a vanilla milkshake?"

She looked up as Josh sat down beside her, each of his hands holding a Styrofoam cup. He handed one over to her.

"Thanks," Maya said, giving him a slight smile. "Even though I'm pretty sure I just said that a milkshake would be good right now. That doesn't mean you have to go off on a scavenger hunt for one while I'm in the bathroom."

Josh returned a small smile. "Well, I don't think walking across the street really counts as a scavenger hunt. Besides, it's my job to make the rest of this pregnancy a little less miserable for you."

She wished she could say that she wasn't feeling miserable, but the past few weeks had really taken a toll on her. The simplest actions were becoming more and more uncomfortable. She was spending an ever-increasing portion of her days feeling tired and longing to be in bed. But, on a more positive note, she chose to believe that her personal life was improving.

Her breakup didn't sting so much anymore. Except maybe when she saw other girls hitting on Lucas, but, while that was hard to watch, it wasn't as painful as she'd feared it would be. She viewed that as a positive thing. It meant that they'd gotten the closure they needed, that she was getting on with her life. But her friends seemed to think it was a little fast, which only fueled their theories about her and Josh. Theories that she was doing her best to brush off. She certainly hadn't brought up the subject with Josh again. They were much better off leaving it alone.

"You nervous?" he asked, after they'd both spent a few seconds enjoying their milkshakes.

Maya was a little hesitant to answer. Knowing some of the things that this class would likely entail them doing made her somewhat anxious; however, it couldn't possibly be anything more awkward than the photo shoot. So at least there was that.

"It's just a class," she replied, shrugging casually. "I don't think there's a whole lot to be nervous about."

"I meant about having the baby," he clarified, nodding to the pamphlet that was still in her lap.

"Oh." She picked it up and glanced at it for a second. "Yeah, maybe a little. I mean, I know it's gonna hurt. Guess I'm just hoping it won't be so awful once they get me drugged up."

"What, no natural birth?" Josh teased.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Only if you like the idea of me screaming at you the entire time. And I wouldn't count on me being a ray of sunshine even _with_ the drugs, so I'd get it if you decided not to be in the room."

Josh shook his head. "You're entitled to scream at me as much as you want. But there's nothing you could say that would make me want to miss seeing this little girl be born. I want to be there for everything. The first cries, first steps, first day of school…"

Maya felt her heart swell as she pictured those milestones in her head.

Her gaze drifted downward to the pamphlet in her lap. It had a picture of a joyful-looking couple with their newborn on the cover.

"Josh?" She slowly looked back up. "When the baby comes, does that make the three of us some kind of weird, unconventional family?"

He let a hint of a smile appear on his face. "I like to think so."

Her heart swelled even more.

* * *

Josh didn't see why any father-to-be would complain about childbirth class. From his perspective, it was pretty great. The information on what to expect the labor and delivery to be like, the tips to get through it all, meeting other people going through the same thing.

Maya's head shifted slightly against his chest as she continued to doze.

Yeah, this part wasn't so bad either.

The lights were turned off in the spacious room, and they were playing a video on the projector screen. Maya had been getting more tired as the class went on; she had no chance of staying awake once the lights went out. Josh had been sitting behind her and was now acting as her pillow. Quite happily, if he was being honest.

It wasn't until the video reached a part that he knew Maya would want to see that he decided to try and wake her.

"Maya," he whispered, giving her a gentle shake.

She made a faint whining noise and lifted her hand up with two fingers weakly extended. "Two more minutes," she mumbled, before repositioning herself just a bit in order to snuggle closer to him.

It was then that the half-asleep blonde became aware of what she was doing. Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly sat up straight.

"Sorry," she said, blushing. Her voice came out a little too loud, and a few of the other parents-to-be sent a glance in their direction. Neither teen spoke again for several seconds until Maya found herself attempting to explain.

"I've gotten to where I usually take a nap after school. It's probably about that time…"

"Yeah, I think we'll be out of here soon," he responded, keeping his voice down. "One down, two more to go."

Maya exhaled a shaky breath at the reminder that they still had to show up for this class two more times. So while they'd been able to get through this one without being put into too many uncomfortable situations, there was no guarantee with the others.

 _And if there are no uncomfortable situations, I'll find a way to create one,_ Maya thought, rolling her eyes at her previous actions.

They continued to watch the remainder of the video, and, when it ended, the class instructor had them all imitating the breathing technique that the woman in the video had used.

"You're doing great," Josh said, softly. Maya was trying very hard to keep her breathing in a steady rhythm, but her unborn child was making that quite difficult. The blonde grimaced a bit, moving both of her hands to her belly.

Josh grew a little concerned. "Is everything okay?"

The possibility of her going into premature labor was always in the back of his mind these days.

"Yeah," Maya answered through gritted teeth. "I think she's just decided to try and kick her way out of me. Not that I can blame her. It's probably getting cramped in there."

"Maybe she'll be patient enough to get through a few more weeks," Josh commented.

"Assuming she doesn't inherit my impatience. Just one of the many things I hope she doesn't get from me. Along with my impulsiveness, my occasional bad judgment, my tendency to self-destruct…"

"Your resilience, your sense of humor, your heart, your courage…"

Maya slowly turned her head to lock eyes with him.

"I hope she's just like you," Josh said in a near-whisper.

The longer the mother-to-be allowed her gaze to be locked with his, the more she felt herself getting lost in his deep blue eyes. It was almost as if they were hypnotizing her, making her lose every thought that had been in her head. She suddenly felt weak, helpless…

 _Why does this keep happening to me?_ was the only question her mind could formulate, before the baby—who had started to settle down—gave her one particularly hard kick to jar her out of whatever daze she was in. She then quickly shifted her eyes away from him.

Something had definitely been messing with her head lately.

* * *

Immediately after her class ended, Maya started getting bombarded with text messages to meet her friends at Topanga's. So she did just that. Even though she was admittedly a little annoyed with the fact that she wasn't likely to get a nap in that day.

"Okay, I'm here. What's the emergency?" Maya inquired, squeezing into their corner booth next to Riley. Just barely. She really hoped that she didn't get much bigger than she already was.

Riley frowned at her. "Why do you assume there's an emergency?"

"Because you guys are taking away my sleeping time," she reminded them.

"Nothing's wrong," Smackle stated. "We just thought you might appreciate the chance to have us all to yourself while Lucas is occupied with his relatives being in town."

Maya was surprised to realize that she really had spent very little time with all of them together since she and Lucas broke up. They were always splintering off into pairs, so neither she nor Lucas would have to be alone.

"I guess this _is_ nice," she admitted. "I miss us all hanging out together."

The comment earned nods of agreement from them all.

"So, how did your class go?" Farkle wondered.

Standing on its own, it was an innocent question. But Maya knew that there would be follow-up questions, and she was determined to avoid talking about the subject that she suspected would be brought into the discussion in a matter of seconds.

"The class went fine," Maya replied. "But before you guys start, I just want you to know that I'm not planning on repeating for the thousandth time that there is nothing going on between me and Josh. So if we could just let that go…"

"None of us brought it up," Zay pointed out. "In fact, we've decided that we're not gonna try and talk to you about it anymore. It clearly doesn't do any good."

Maya glanced around at the rest of her friends; she hadn't been expecting to hear that and briefly wondered why she wasn't more relieved. After all, their voices being in her ear all the time was probably what had been messing with her head.

"Good," she finally said. "So the subject is closed from now on."

No one argued, though she couldn't help but notice Riley glance downwards at the surface of the table. Almost looking a little guilty. She wanted to ask why, but, in her eagerness to get her mind on something else, she allowed the subject to be changed.

They spent the next several minutes talking about school, new movies that they wanted to see, and everyone's Thanksgiving plans, until Maya's pregnancy bladder had her excusing herself to go to the bathroom.

She left behind four nervous friends who hoped they were doing the right thing.

* * *

Maya never really understood why some people had this desire to broadcast everything that was going on in their personal life to anyone within hearing distance. While in the girls' bathroom, she had to listen to the portion of a curly-haired brunette's phone call in which she told some girl named Lisa all about how she was trying to get with some 'dreamy' guy from one of her classes. And she was still talking about this when Maya exited her bathroom stall.

Of course, the girl was standing right in front of the sink, checking her hair and makeup while she talked. Maya had to stand there a few seconds before the girl finally noticed her and moved out of the way. Maya proceeded to wash her hands, briefly glancing up to see the brunette digging around in her purse while continuing her conversation.

"I know. I usually have such bad luck with guys," she was saying. "But he's perfect, Lisa. Sweet, funny, _gorgeous_. I mean, rumor has it he's got some baggage, but…"

Maya dried her hands with a paper towel and then headed for the door as the other girl zipped her purse back up and laughed.

"You underestimate me. Look, give me a week, and I promise you—Josh Matthews will be mine."

Maya's eyes shot open. She stopped and slowly turned back around.

"No, I understand," the girl said, still smiling. "Tell the kids Aunt Daphne says hi." She paused for a second. "Okay. Bye, sis."

She fooled with her phone for a few moments while Maya watched her. She looked slightly older than the pregnant blonde, with large, expressive brown eyes that matched the color of her curls, a tan complexion, and a slim, but shapely figure that made Maya long for her old body. She could be a model. That's how beautiful she was.

And she liked Josh.

Maya suddenly felt nauseous.

Daphne finally noticed her staring. "Can I help you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. There was a certain smugness in her voice that made Maya's blood boil.

She took a few steps toward the brunette. "Yeah, I think we need to get a couple things straight… _Daphne._ "

"I don't even know you," Daphne responded, making a move to leave.

Maya stepped in her way. "You're right. I should introduce myself. Most people call me Maya, but you apparently know me as Josh's baggage." She extended her hand out to the other girl in a sarcastic gesture. "Nice to meet you."

Daphne only folded her arms together. "So that is true."

"Afraid so," Maya answered, dropping her hand back to her side. "You know, there are a lot of great guys out there. Guys who'll be able to give you way more attention than Josh can. I mean, in a few weeks, he's going to be a full-time student with a job and a baby. Don't you want someone who has more time for you?"

Daphne's lips curved into a smile. "As sweet as your concern is, we don't have to worry about that. Guys always make time for me."

Maya tried to maintain an unfazed expression, even as she started to fume inside. _What a self-absorbed little brat…_

"I know Josh," she said, calmly. "And I'll just be honest with you—you're not his type."

"Well, why don't we let him decide that? This isn't really any of your business. You two aren't together, are you?"

"He's my baby's father. I care about him."

Daphne stepped closer to her. "Yeah? Because I'd bet this is more of you caring about yourself. Classic case of jealousy. You don't like the idea of Josh being happy with someone else. Do you?"

Maya's heart began to beat faster. "That's not what this is about."

"Then stay out of the way. Let us have a chance to fall in love."

Maya suddenly found a series of unwanted visuals playing through her head. Josh holding _Daphne_ close as he whispered 'I love you' in her ear. Josh kissing _Daphne_ goodnight at the end of a date. Josh kneeling down and asking _Daphne_ to spend the rest of her life with him.

The images nearly brought Maya to her knees. It felt like fire was shooting through her veins, while a knife was being hurled into her chest.

"Leave him alone," she whispered.

Daphne shook her head. "Why would I do that? I like Josh. I want to be with him."

"And I _don't_ want you to be with him! _I_ want to be with him!"

That emotional declaration came from Maya's lips, in Maya's voice, but it felt as though someone else must have given it. Because her head thought she couldn't possibly have meant those words. Yet her heart immediately knew that she did. She felt like she could breathe again, like a giant weight had been lifted off of her, like she didn't have to fight anymore…what the hell had just happened?

She looked at Daphne, who now had a warm smile on her face—only adding to Maya's confusion.

"I hope I wasn't too harsh," Daphne stated, resting her hand on Maya's shoulder for a second. "And I also hope that you and this Josh guy will be very happy together."

Maya stared at her, blankly. "Wait, _what_?"

"I'll let your friends explain. Try not to be too mad at them. They really care about you."

With that, Daphne walked out of the room.

Maya stood there for several moments, overwhelmed with the thoughts racing through her head. How could she have fallen for a total scam? How could she have let some stranger push her into saying the words that she'd been denying for so long? How could those words be true? How could she let this happen again?

"Are you mad?"

She looked up at the sound of Riley's hesitant voice. Her friend closed the door and approached her.

"I don't know," Maya replied. "How would you feel if I set _you_ up?"

Riley crossed her arms and gave her a look.

Maya rolled her eyes. "That's different. I was trying to make you happy!"

"And I was trying to make _you_ happy." Riley put her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "You're my best friend in the entire world. I couldn't watch you keep lying to yourself. It was obvious to everyone that you have feelings for Josh. Everyone except you." She removed her hands with a sigh. "We were all just trying to find a way to help you, and we thought if you saw the possibility of him being with another girl—you wouldn't be able to hide how you really felt. He doesn't actually know Daphne. She's just someone we found who was willing to help us."

Maya closed her eyes for a second, letting out a shaky breath. She wasn't mad. Not really. At least not at anyone besides herself. Her reaction to Daphne was the problem, not the fact that it was all a setup.

When she couldn't bring herself to speak, Riley went on. "It seemed better to see how you would react this way than to wait until some girl comes into the picture for real."

Tears began to well up in Maya's eyes. "I don't want that to happen," she admitted. "I don't want him to be with anyone else."

"Because you want him to be with you," Riley said, softly.

Maya wiped around the edges of her eyes. "I keep having all these feelings when we're together. I've been trying to ignore them, but it's just been getting harder and harder. And then when I imagined him and Daphne…I couldn't do it anymore. It all fell apart."

Riley hugged her, and silence filled the room for several seconds before Maya spoke.

"I'm supposed to be over him. I _was_ over him, Riley." She pulled back and ran a hand back through her hair. "And now look at me. I'm right back to where I started. Why do I do this to myself?"

"You can't help your feelings, Maya. No one can."

"So my feelings just want to destroy my happiness? I had the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. I did so many things that were unforgivable, and Lucas kept finding ways to forgive me. All I had to do was show him that he was more important to me than Josh was. And I couldn't do it. I didn't want to give Josh up. I picked the guy that didn't want me over the guy that did."

"How can you be so sure that Josh doesn't want you?" Riley questioned. "Because I don't really believe his excuses any more than I believed yours."

Maya shook her head. "I figured out how he felt a long time ago."

Riley sighed. "That's why you kept fighting this, isn't it? Why you needed for it not to be true."

The pregnant teen didn't respond.

"Maya, we were like twelve," Riley pointed out. "A lot's changed since then. I mean, how much time did you ever really spend alone together before this pregnancy happened? And, now, look at how close you guys are. He always seems the happiest when you're around."

Maya still remained quiet, but, inside, she was a hurricane of emotions. Everything she'd been bottling up had finally been set free. Riley was right; she _didn't_ want to have these feelings. She didn't want to feel so drawn to Josh, and she didn't want to feel that sliver of hope at the suggestion that he could feel the same. All she wanted to do was go back to whatever moment these feelings started developing and make it not happen.

"What do I do now?" she asked, sounding every bit as lost as she felt.

Riley considered for a second. "First, I think you and Peaches Jr. here should go home and get some rest. And then…you take some time and figure out what you want to do about Josh."

 _And I'll figure out exactly how he feels about you,_ the brunette added in her thoughts.

* * *

On her way home, Maya received yet another text message—her mom wanting to see her as soon as she could get there. Maya's mind was still racing as she walked down the hall to her family's apartment. She didn't have the first idea of what she was going to do. Now that her eyes had been opened, there was no way to close them again.

She let herself inside the apartment and headed for the kitchen, stopping in her tracks when she saw Josh sitting at the breakfast bar. Her parents were standing on the other side of the counter, not looking very amused—especially her dad. They all glanced her way. And when her eyes met Josh's, it hit her how much everything had changed.

 _Oh God. I don't know how to deal with this,_ she thought.

"Maya, why don't you sit down?" Katy suggested, nodding to the barstool next to Josh.

Only then did she wonder what her parents wanted to talk about and why Josh was here in the first place. She started to get even more nervous, but tried not to show it as she took her seat.

Shawn's gaze switched between the two teenagers. "So, which one of you wants to tell us what it is that's going on between you two?"

Maya's heart started to pound in her chest. "Nothing," she said, quickly. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Katy opened up the laptop sitting between them on the counter and then turned it so Maya and Josh could see. "These are the pictures from your photo shoot," she stated.

The image before them had to be the most incriminating one. It was similar to the first pose that they'd been placed in, but, in this picture, Maya and Josh had their heads tilted to where they were looking at one another. There wasn't much space between them at all; it almost seemed as though they were leaning in for a kiss. Maya's eyes slowly widened, while Josh was clearly getting uncomfortable.

"We were told to do that," he attempted to explain. "These really aren't what they look like."

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "They're not? Because I don't think the photographer would tell you to do this stuff unless she thought you were a couple. Which means you two let her think that. And we're not even talking about the pictures themselves. If _those_ are fake, that was some kind of an act you put on."

Katy sighed. "We just want to make sure you know that you don't have to hide anything from us. If you guys decide to try out a relationship, we'll be completely supportive. We'd obviously rather you not jump straight into something, but…"

"Mom. Dad. It's just a few pictures. Nothing is going on here," Maya said, as firmly as she could manage. Basically begging them, _Please stop talking._ The last thing she needed was for Josh to be clued in on feelings that she was still trying to process herself.

"We're just friends," Josh added, backing her up. He hoped they couldn't see straight through his words. He didn't want Maya to find out the truth yet. It wasn't the right time.

Katy reluctantly gave them a nod. "Okay. Just remember what I said."

Surprised, Shawn led her aside. "We're pretending that we believe them?"

"No, we just don't push them." Katy's eyes moved back to the two teenagers. "They'll come clean when they're ready."

The two adults proceeded to walk out of the room, leaving Maya and Josh behind. They spent a few seconds in an awkward silence; both of them were wondering if the other was starting to figure everything out, but neither dared to give any more clues.

"I should go," Josh finally said, standing up. "I've got all kinds of papers due soon that I need to start on."

"Yeah." Maya slowly stood up as well. "Sorry about just now. I guess I should've told them about the pictures before they actually saw them."

Josh shook his head. "It's not a big deal. Everybody has their own opinions."

They started to walk to the front door; Maya looked down, keeping her gaze away from his.

"Everybody's opinions about us are the same," she spoke, quietly.

"I think ours are really the only ones that matter," he responded, before stopping in front of the door and turning to face her. "As long as _we_ know what we are, we'll be fine."

"Friends," Maya clarified, her voice cracking just a bit.

After a brief hesitation, Josh forced a slight nod. "Friends," he agreed.


	23. Leaps of Faith

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter uploaded twice. I got this weird error message the first time I tried to post it, so we're trying this again.**

 **Thanks so much to the following people for reviewing: Morgan, Guest, Sara, Laugh instead, nikatsu, ranggy, Guest, Chelsea, Jess, Amy, shanarose, Guest, Whenitsover, Joshaya, Guest, Alwaystoolate, leah2300, Meagan, Guest, ChlexLover3, It's Allie, Guest, Guest, and Jen2000. I love you guys! And I so appreciate your patience. I had such a hard time with this chapter. There was a whole lot of re-writing and editing involved (because it's a huge chapter—length-wise and content-wise—and I wanted everything to be perfect), so I hope it turned out okay in the end and that you guys aren't disappointed. :)**

* * *

 **31 Weeks**

Josh was finding it harder and harder to be Maya's 'friend'. Especially on a day like this one. It was Thanksgiving, and everyone had gathered at Cory and Topanga's for the holiday. His parents, his siblings, Shawn and Katy, and—of course—Maya. Though he suspected that she wished she hadn't come. It had only taken about five seconds for his relatives to start asking questions about what exactly the two of them were. Everyone had caught a glimpse of those photo shoot pictures by now.

It was stressful—listening to all the comments, knowing that every single person had figured out that he liked Maya. Everyone except maybe Maya herself. It was becoming increasingly clear that he would have to tell her sooner rather than later. He just didn't want to mess things up between them; how could he know if she was ready? If the timing was right?

Josh exhaled a deep breath and peeled himself from the brick wall that he'd been leaning up against. He'd ventured outside to get his head straight, but it wasn't helping in the least. He started to move, then stopped when he noticed his dad, his brothers, and Shawn gathering around him.

"Uh, what's going on?" he questioned.

Alan put an arm around his son's shoulders. "Josh, you've got to stop this dance you and Maya are doing. We all know how you feel about her. It's written all over you."

"Plus Cory told us," Eric added, nodding to the middle brother.

"Not intentionally. You tricked me!" Cory defended.

Shawn gave his friend a pat on the back. "Don't worry about it too much. Josh and Maya were the worst-kept secret anyone's ever tried to keep. I saw this coming months ago."

"I think most of us did," Alan agreed, dropping his arm back to his side.

Josh found himself wondering how he could've been caught so off guard by his feelings when they clearly didn't come as a surprise to anyone else. He focused his gaze on Shawn.

"If you knew about me liking Maya all this time, why weren't you more upset?" he wondered. Shawn had been _furious_ with him when he found out that he was the one responsible for Maya's pregnancy.

"I've had a while to get used to the idea," Shawn replied. "In my perfect world, Maya wouldn't be dating at all. And she definitely wouldn't be dating someone older who's already been irresponsible with her once. But you _have_ done just about everything right since then. So I'm trusting that you've learned your lesson, and I won't have to worry about you doing something stupid like breaking her heart or getting her pregnant again."

Josh nodded, slightly surprised. "Yeah, I've definitely learned my lesson."

Shawn had to admit that the younger father-to-be sounded completely sincere. He wasn't particularly happy about giving his blessing; he'd barely gotten a chance to be Maya's dad before she was having a baby herself and, as a result, still felt a little deprived. But Maya's happiness came first. She obviously wanted Josh, and Shawn always knew deep down that he was a good kid.

"Then go tell her the truth," he instructed.

Josh blinked. "What?"

Eric took a step closer to him. "You shouldn't be trying to hide your feelings. Number one, you're really bad at it. All you have to do is look at those pictures to tell that you like her. And, number two, Maya deserves to know that you see her as more than a friend. You ever thought she might be thinking the same things?"

"I don't know how she feels," Josh responded. "But even if she did feel the same way, I don't want to rush into something if she isn't ready."

Eric turned to Cory. "You had to tell him to keep his mouth shut."

"The situation was a lot different when I gave him that advice," Cory pointed out.

Josh gave him a questioning look. "So…you don't think I should wait anymore?"

Cory sighed. "Josh, you came to me and told me that you wanted to be with a girl who was still in a relationship with someone else. Things were complicated at the time. I didn't think it was a good idea for you to jump in and make a bigger mess. Taking things slow seemed like the smarter thing to tell you to do."

"You and Maya can still do that," Alan stated. "You _should_ do that. Having a baby means that you have to be more careful about every decision you make. They'll all affect that little girl. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be honest with each other. Son, the only thing that you're accomplishing right now is torturing yourself."

Eric nodded. "The time for that's over, little brother. If you want something to happen, you can't sit around and wait for the world to make it happen for you."

Josh let his mind absorb all of their words, finally coming to the conclusion that they were right. He couldn't keep waiting. He had to do something.

* * *

Inside, Maya was sitting at the dining room table working on the piece of pumpkin pie that was sitting on a plate in front of her. She'd been stressing a lot more lately, basically ever since she was forced to admit that she liked Josh. And she'd found that indulging her cravings was about the only thing that could take her mind off of her dilemma.

Of course, this tactic was significantly less effective when she was surrounded by people who kept bringing it up.

"You know Josh talks about you all the time," Morgan was saying as Topanga sat down at the table with her, Maya, Amy, and Katy. The last few dishes were cooking now.

"What does he say about her?" Katy asked, curiously.

Maya rubbed her forehead with the hand that wasn't holding her fork. _Can we please just change the subject?_ she pleaded in her thoughts.

"It's not _what_ he says as much as it is how he says it," Morgan answered with a smile. "He always sounds happier when Maya's name comes up in a conversation. Doesn't he, mom?"

Amy was reluctant to answer. While it was undeniable that her son had developed feelings for his baby's mother, Josh was still _her_ baby, and she worried that he was going to end up getting hurt if Maya didn't feel the same way he did. Pictures could be misleading, after all. And hadn't she gone through a breakup not that long ago?

"Maya, nothing you tell me will reach Josh," she assured the teenager. "But I have to know—do you have feelings for my son?"

Maya started to choke on the piece of pie that was in her mouth.

"Hold on, sweetie. I'll get you some water," Katy said, standing up and going to the refrigerator.

But Topanga quickly realized that Maya had swallowed the bite of pie and was now simply faking the cough as a way to get out of answering the question. She placed a hand on the blonde's back.

"Honey, you can't put off dealing with this forever," she reminded Maya. "You're about to bring a baby into the world. You and Josh have to be able to focus on her, and you can't do that if you're spending all your time wondering where you stand with each other."

"She's right," Katy agreed, handing her daughter a bottle of water as she sat back down. "Something has been building between you two for a long time. I know you weren't expecting it; that's part of the reason it's so scary. And it's okay to be scared. Just don't let that stop you from taking a chance on love. I promise you, it's worth it."

Maya set her water bottle down after taking a few sips; she knew that they were right, but it was hard to gather up enough courage to tell Josh the truth when there were so many ways that it could go wrong. She just didn't know if she could do it.

"Mom, can I have some pie?"

Auggie's appearance at the table gave Maya a bit of relief. Somebody to take the attention away from her for a few moments.

"Not right now, sweetie. We're having dinner soon," Topanga replied to her son's question.

"But Aunt Maya gets to have some," Auggie protested, pointing to Maya's mostly-empty plate.

"Hey, Aunt Maya's got a growing baby to feed," Maya defended. And then it hit her what Auggie had actually said. "Wait a minute. _Aunt Maya?_ Why would you call me that?"

Auggie looked surprised by her inquiry. "Well, you'll be my aunt after you and Uncle Josh get married. But you sort of act like you're married already, so I thought I could start calling you that now."

His response drew smiles and raised eyebrows from the other women at the table, and Maya felt her cheeks heating up.

"We do not act like we're married," she countered, brushing it off as casually as she could.

"Yes you do," Auggie argued. "You're always smiling at each other, and he's always doing stuff for you, and don't you have to like each other to have a baby?"

While Maya was thinking up a reply to explain away his points, the front door opened, and Josh walked in with his brothers, his dad, and Shawn. And all it took was his eyes locking with Maya's for a split second for much of the courage he'd gathered up to evaporate. He had to quickly remind himself of the decision he'd made before he completely lost his nerve. It was time to tell her the truth.

 _The first chance I have alone with her,_ he vowed to himself.

Riley suddenly emerged from the hallway with Zay at her side. "Maya and Uncle Josh—we've got a surprise for you!" she informed them, excitedly.

* * *

It wasn't as though Riley had _intended_ to continue meddling in Maya and Josh's lives. She honestly believed that, once Maya could acknowledge her feelings for Josh, things would fall into place from there. But things weren't turning out to be so simple. It was becoming very clear that Maya was nowhere close to the point where she was going to make a move; her strategy for the better part of the past week had basically been to avoid Josh as much as possible. As for her uncle, Riley was convinced that he liked Maya, but she couldn't get him to admit it. Maybe Josh was worried that Maya wasn't ready, or maybe he wanted to see if she felt the same way before he admitted anything. Either way—as much as she tried not to—Riley was getting impatient with the two of them.

While she couldn't exactly force them to open up to each other, she decided that she _could_ create conditions that would encourage them to do so. Sure, they probably wouldn't take it very well at first, but she was prepared to dish out some tough love if it meant speeding up the process of Maya and Josh getting together. It _was_ for the sake of their own happiness, after all.

"Are the blindfolds really necessary?" Josh asked as Riley steered him down the hallway.

"For a surprise as good as this one, yes," Riley affirmed. She glanced back at her boyfriend, who was guiding an also-blindfolded Maya. Zay smiled and shook his head. This idea was on the extreme side, and he knew that he'd be sleeping with one eye open for a while if it backfired. On the other hand—if it worked, maybe this eight-month-long soap opera would finally be over.

Maya sighed. "Please tell me you guys didn't get anything expensive. The baby really doesn't need any more stuff. She's gonna be spoiled enough as it is."

"Yeah, but there's still technically one thing that she doesn't have," Zay replied. "And you know we had to do something about that."

Josh frowned. With all the baby stuff they'd gotten, it was hard to believe that they could've forgotten something. He started going through a checklist in his head—clothes, toys, furniture, stroller, pacifiers…

"What does she not have?" Maya questioned. She was also unable to think of what they could've missed. Everything had already been set up so it would all be ready for the baby's birth.

"We're answering no more questions," Riley declared, walking her uncle through her parents' room and then into the master bathroom. She then carefully guided him into the tiny, spare storage closet in the corner of the room, before Zay did the same for Maya. Neither parent-to-be seemed to suspect anything.

"Is this something I've been wanting?" Maya asked, hoping for a hint.

Riley smiled. "Oh, it's something you and Uncle Josh have both been wanting."

"Just promise you won't hurt us," Zay said, grabbing a hold of the closet door knob.

Maya started to feel confused. "Why would I…"

She was cut off by the abrupt, very loud sound of a door being shut, followed by what sounded like something being propped against it.

"What the…" Josh's voice stopped when he and Maya realized at the same time what was _really_ going on here. Both teens experienced a moment of panic in which they simultaneously ripped their blindfolds off while bumping into each other multiple times, fumbling around for the door knob. It was pitch black in the cramped space.

Maya finally found it, but, unsurprisingly, she couldn't get it to budge. The blonde started to fume as she beat on the door with her fists. " _Enough_ with the meddling! You guys have about ten seconds to let me out of here before I start plotting my revenge!"

Josh finally found the light switch and turned it on. He and Maya looked around, seeing just how tight of a squeeze they were in. The room was empty aside from a box on the shelf above them, but it was still barely possible for them to avoid physical contact with each other in such close quarters.

And they knew right then that they were in trouble.

* * *

"I'm going to kill them," Maya mumbled, repositioning herself in an attempt to find a comfortable position on the closet floor. She and Josh were now sitting next to each other, having finally accepted the fact that they would be stuck in here for a while since her oh-so-wise friends had decided that forcing them to be alone together was going to result in them confessing feelings to each other.

"You were right," Josh said, reluctantly approaching the subject that he'd been trying so hard to stay away from. "Everyone has this idea about us in their heads. And it's starting to look like ignoring it isn't really helping."

Maya slowly turned to look at him. She didn't know where this conversation was about to go or even where she wanted it to go.

"What do you think we could tell people so this doesn't happen again?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered, letting out a barely audible sigh. What he really wanted to say was, _The truth._ They were alone now. This was the time; he couldn't put it off any longer. He just thought he would have a chance to figure out the best way to tell her first. He couldn't simply blurt it out. He took a quick glance around the cramped space, also regretting that this was basically the least romantic setting he could've conjured up. Couldn't he and Maya do _anything_ the conventional way?

Maya rested a hand on her baby bump. "If nothing else, I guess we'll have one more interesting story to tell this kid someday," she remarked, attempting to remain calm. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, and she was already growing more and more nervous about this situation.

She had good reason to be.

Josh made an effort to shift his position on the floor, gently brushing his hand against hers in the process. Just the latest moment of incidental contact to occur between them in the tiny room, but, with every touch, her defenses weakened a little more. Her head was screaming for her to get some space between them, which obviously wasn't an option. And so her body was slowly overtaking her brain, making it nearly impossible to ignore her desire to be even closer to him.

Meanwhile, Josh was a little too busy trying to determine how he was going to tell Maya about his own feelings to pick up on the internal struggle that she was having.

"Getting kind of cold in here," she finally stated, crossing her arms and shivering a little. If he hadn't been so distracted, he would've noticed the hint of hopefulness in her voice when she said that. But he didn't clue in to what she was getting at, so he stood up to see if he could find a blanket in the box on the shelf above them. No luck.

"I don't see anything," Josh said, sitting back down. "I mean, I could give you my shirt if you want."

Maya sighed. _Well, it was worth a shot,_ she thought.

"No, I'll be fine," she responded. But then she thought it over for another moment and realized that—while it wasn't her original intention—his suggestion sounded almost as appealing. "Actually, another layer probably would help," she backtracked. "If you don't think you need it anyway."

Josh's expression reflected slight surprise. It had been more of a halfhearted offer; he hadn't really expected her to take him up on it.

"Uh, no—I'm not cold or anything," he replied, before his fingers began to unbutton the light blue button-down shirt he was wearing. With Josh's attention concentrated on that task, Maya let her eyes wander over his perfectly-toned body as more and more of it became exposed. He then started to peel his shirt off, unknowingly stirring up some very indecent thoughts in the hormonal blonde's head. She pushed those aside, mentally cursing the fact that she couldn't simply enjoy her view of a shirtless Josh without her imagination running wild.

This may not have been her best idea.

He turned to her just as she was forcing her gaze elsewhere.

"Here you go." Josh handed over the shirt, while Maya managed a smile as she took it.

"Thanks."

They sat there in silence for a few seconds, and then Josh finally gave her a questioning look.

"You gonna put it on?" he inquired.

Maya quickly looked down at the garment of clothing that was still in her hands, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. "Yeah, I was just about to do that," she returned, casually.

Josh let a small smile creep onto his face as he watched her slide it on. "You know—if I didn't know better, I'd think you just wanted me to take my shirt off," he teased.

Maya started to blush. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm more concerned with keeping my child warm than undressing the first hot guy I can get my hands on."

The comment drew a full-on grin from Josh. "You think I'm hot?"

By this point, the mother-to-be knew that her face must have been as red as a firetruck. This conversation needed to be steered in a different direction. Immediately.

"I don't remember asking you about your motives eight months ago when you were taking _my_ clothes off," she said, defensively. "And we know how innocent _that_ turned out to be."

"Hey, you were involved in that too," he reminded her.

Maya crossed her arms. "But _you_ started it when you decided to kiss me. Next thing I know, I've got myself signed up for nine months of weird cravings, swollen ankles, and my stomach growing to the size of a small country."

Josh smiled at her exaggeration. "It's really not that bad," he attempted to reassure her.

"How can you say that? Look at me, I'm huge!" she complained, motioning emphatically to her swollen belly.

He continued to watch her, amazed that she didn't see herself the way he did. "I don't think anyone's ever looked more beautiful," he said, softly.

Maya felt the sensation of butterflies in her stomach when he said those words. _Stop doing that,_ she begged in her thoughts. _Stop making me feel this way. How am I supposed to pretend that I'm not falling for you when you're being so amazing?_

"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked, hesitantly.

"I think you're perfect," Josh answered, with the utmost sincerity. She'd always been gorgeous on the outside, but he could've never realized just how incredible of a person she really was until this pregnancy happened. Until he watched her take on every responsibility that came with it, make every sacrifice, battle through every hardship—all for the sake of their little girl.

A tiny smile emerged on Maya's lips. "I guess you're not so bad yourself."

Josh smiled back. "I still don't think you were really cold," he stated, only half-joking.

He was right. Not that Maya was ever going to let him know that.

"I'm cold right _now_ ," she fibbed. "Your shirt isn't thick enough."

"You know it's like eighty degrees in here."

"Mmm, feels closer to sixty."

He stared at her for a second. "Come here then."

Maya bit back a smile and moved closer to Josh while he repositioned himself behind her, giving her exactly what she'd been wanting all along by gently wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.

"Does this help?" he questioned, voice just barely above a whisper.

"Maybe a little," Maya replied, breathlessly. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't know how to define what it was that was currently transpiring between them. She'd probably clued him in to her feelings by now, but, at the moment, she didn't really care. He wasn't backing away; he was doing just the opposite. _Maybe he wants this too,_ she thought, allowing a sense of hope to rise within her.

"Maya?" Josh said, prompting her to turn her head and lock eyes with him. And he realized then that he'd been worrying way too much about how to put what he felt for her into words. Words weren't necessary right now.

He slowly began to lean in…

* * *

"It hurts," Auggie complained as Cory led him through the master bedroom. The child had been making paper airplanes with his Uncle Eric and managed to get a pretty awful-looking papercut in the process.

"I know, buddy," Cory said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure we have some Band-Aids in here."

He walked into the bathroom, thinking it was odd that the light was left on. Then he noticed the chair propped up against one of the closet doors. _Oh no,_ Cory thought, realizing that he hadn't seen Josh or Maya since they went to check out Riley's 'surprise'.

Quickly, he moved the chair and opened the closet door. He wasn't sure what he expected to see, but it wasn't what he _did_ see. Which was the two soon-to-be parents snuggled in each other's arms, leaning into what was quite obviously going to be a kiss. Josh's lips were only maybe a few centimeters away from Maya's.

Cory didn't exactly get a good look because Josh and Maya immediately pulled themselves away from one another and started stumbling to their feet. Both of them looking extremely embarrassed.

"Finally," Josh said, playing the whole thing off as casually as he could. "I was beginning to think we would be stuck in here all night."

"Well, it looks like you found a way to pass the time," Cory commented as the two stepped out of the closet. He was surprised that Josh had told Maya so quickly, but happy that things had clearly gone well.

"Does this mean you're boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Auggie inquired.

Maya glanced away, suddenly feeling really awkward and unsure. She was both stunned and elated by the fact that she and Josh had come so close to kissing, but a new terror was setting in—she had no idea what was supposed to happen next. The 'just friends' line that they'd been repeating for so long had just been thrown out the window.

"No, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend," Maya finally answered, uncomfortably.

Auggie gave her a confused look. "But you were kissing."

"We weren't kissing," Josh stated, running a hand through his hair. "Two people can kiss without being together anyway."

Cory raised an eyebrow and then shook his head. He was through trying to guess what was going on with the two of them.

"I don't think so," Auggie said, after briefly considering his uncle's point. "I'm gonna go see what everybody else says."

They watched the little boy leave the room, and Cory noticed that Josh and Maya were so wrapped up in their own thoughts that they hadn't even comprehended what Auggie said. The two teenagers looked as awkward and lost for direction as he'd ever seen them.

"He's about to tell everyone here that he saw you two kissing," Cory clarified for them.

Both sets of blue eyes shot open that time.

"Auggie, wait a minute!" Josh called, taking off after his nephew.

Maya stayed there and leaned her head against the wall. "What have I done?"

Cory gave the teen a small smile. "From what I saw, I'd say you were either kissing Josh, or you were about to kiss him."

"About to. You couldn't have come in a second later? If I have to deal with everything being weird, I at least should've gotten my kiss. I mean, Josh probably knows I like him now!"

She barely even cared that she'd just blurted out her feelings to yet another person. They all knew anyway. It had been obvious ever since the photo shoot pictures came out.

"He was going to kiss you, Maya. Don't you think that's a pretty good indication of how he feels about you?" Cory questioned.

He proceeded to grab the box of Band-Aids from the medicine cabinet and pull one out for Auggie while Maya thought things over. She was still having trouble believing what had almost happened between her and Josh, believing that he might actually be falling for her when that had never seemed like a possibility in the past. The idea felt too good to be true, that it could really be so easy. She wanted him. She couldn't deny that anymore. But there was also no denying that the prospect of altering their 'friends only' status made her feel more vulnerable than ever. So much could potentially go wrong.

"I'm scared," she admitted.

Cory nodded, understanding. "He's scared too. The last thing Josh wants to do is mess anything up with you."

"Then why would he try to kiss me?"

"Because some things are worth taking a risk for. Maybe he thinks you're one of them. You have to decide how you feel about that. But first things first—you should probably go give Josh his shirt back," he advised, glancing at the unbuttoned blue shirt that Maya was wearing over her flowy, yellow maternity top. Cory had decided not to ask questions about that, but he knew that his relatives certainly would.

Maya looked down at the blue garment of clothing and took a deep breath. Whether she was ready for things to change between her and Josh or not, they _had_ changed. There was no more hiding from it.

* * *

"It wasn't a kiss," Josh insisted to all of the curious people who had gathered in the living room to hear Auggie's interpretation of what he had seen Josh and Maya doing in the closet.

"Yes it was a kiss," Auggie argued, turning back to everyone. "And they were hugging too."

Eric grinned. "Oh, kissing _and_ hugging."

Riley crossed her arms, looking quite satisfied with herself. "See. I _knew_ this would happen if you and Maya were stuck together for a while."

Zay chuckled, showing her his phone. "Sugar, we only put them in there fifteen minutes ago."

"Really?" Riley looked back to Josh in astonishment. "You couldn't make it more than fifteen _minutes_ before you started kissing? Someone should've locked you two in a closet weeks ago!"

"We didn't kiss!" Josh exclaimed, pushing back on that assumption yet again.

"Then why does Auggie say you did?" Morgan asked, pointedly.

 _Because we were about half a second away from kissing._ Nope, he couldn't say that.

"Uh…well…"

Amy frowned. "And, honey, do I even want to know why you aren't wearing a shirt?"

"That's something I'd like to know," Shawn chimed in.

 _You've got to be kidding me,_ Josh thought, realizing for the first time that he'd forgotten to get his shirt back from Maya. Yeah, this probably wasn't helping his case.

He was just focused on trying to keep everyone else out of the situation for now, downplaying what happened the best he could until he had a chance to figure things out with Maya. The more he thought about it, the more he worried that he'd rushed things—relying too much on the signals he thought she was sending him. He should've eased the topic of his feelings into the conversation, not caught her off guard by trying to kiss her.

What if he'd screwed everything up?

"Looking for this?"

Maya's voice came out a little too shaky for her liking, and all the sets of eyes that turned on her as she walked into the living room didn't help her nerves. She approached Josh, holding up the hand that had his shirt in it.

He looked into her eyes for a moment, as if that might help him see where her head was. "Yeah, thanks," he finally said, reaching his hand out for the shirt, but still not taking his eyes off of her.

The blonde drew her hand back, maintaining her hold on the garment. "You only get this back on one condition," she informed him.

They had the undivided attention of everyone in the room, but, looking at each other, it almost felt like they were alone again. Josh let a small, hesitant smile play on his lips.

"You're holding my shirt hostage?"

"Oh, yeah. I have a dark side."

His smile grew. "Okay. What's your condition? What do I have to do?"

If Maya had taken the time to reconsider her answer, there was little doubt that she would've chickened out. Which was why she didn't allow herself that opportunity, instead letting the words immediately roll off of her lips.

"Take me on a date."

Her words drew gasps, wide eyes, and dropped jaws from everyone witnessing the scene, but no one dared speak for fear of messing up the moment. Josh just stared at Maya in shock; he wasn't even sure that he'd heard correctly.

"A date?" he repeated, slowly. "You want to go on a date with me?"

It was too late for Maya to turn back now. And now that she'd gotten this far, she didn't want to. Her reservoir of courage was now being refilled at a faster rate than it was being drained, thanks to the relief she felt from this first step towards total honesty and the way that Josh's eyes were sparkling as he waited for her confirmation.

She was really doing this.

"I don't think we can ignore what happened," she stated, quietly. "You would've kissed me, and I would've kissed you back. People who are just friends don't do that, Josh."

He managed a nod, his heart still soaring from the 'I would've kissed you back' portion of her statement. "No, they don't," he finally agreed, letting himself smile ever so slightly. "Maya, I'd love to take you on a date."

She smiled back at him as the room erupted in cheers and applause, again reminding the two that they had an audience. A fact that didn't really bother either of them; nothing seemed to matter except the weights that had been lifted. No more hiding, no more waiting, no more pretending.

"Okay," Topanga announced with a smile. "I don't think there's any topping that, but who's ready for dinner?"

Everyone started to head for the kitchen, chatting amongst themselves about what had just happened. Maya and Josh stayed where they were, and she handed his shirt over to him.

"Happy Thanksgiving," she said, softly.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek, and Maya closed her eyes—part of her savoring the brief moment and the other part of her wishing it was more. "Happy Thanksgiving," he returned, drawing back. "I've got a lot to be thankful for this year."

Their eyes were only locked for another second or so before Josh stepped away from her. Maya slowly let her fingers graze her cheek. _So do I,_ she thought, smiling when she felt their daughter moving around inside her. _Guess what, baby girl? Your mama and daddy are going on a date._


	24. First Date

**A/N: A big thank you goes out to the following people for the amazing reviews: Joshaya, Jess, FINALLY, Guest, ranggy, Whenitsover, Amy, shanarose, Guest, Laugh instead, Megan, Guest, It's Allie, Guest, ItsMe, Sara, Alwaystoolate, Morgan, Guest, Jen2000, ChlexLover3, Guest, and MilesAndMilesToGo. You guys are the best, and I'm so grateful for all the sweet comments and the encouragement you've given me! It really does mean more than I can say.**

 **So I don't know if I'm totally satisfied with this chapter. I feel like parts of it are a little cliché, but I've spent a lot of time trying to make improvements and I'm not going to keep you guys waiting any longer. So here it is, the Joshaya date. Hope you all enjoy. :)**

* * *

 **33 Weeks**

Maya's hands tried to smooth her long, flowing turquoise dress as she stared at her reflection in the floor-length mirror in her bedroom. The dress was a simple, yet sophisticated, garment that featured a sweetheart neckline, held up by a thin strap on each of her shoulders. It hugged Maya's body close at the top; then it loosened to accommodate her nearly-completed pregnancy.

The teenager turned her attention to her hair, which had been swept up except for a few loose curls left hanging on the sides of her face. Then she proceeded to check her makeup. She let her gaze linger on her pink lips the longest, finding herself hoping that all traces of the lip gloss would be gone by the end of the night. Her heart started to beat faster at those thoughts.

She'd had two long weeks to contemplate what her first date with Josh would be like, thanks to him coming down with a bad case of strep throat and refusing to be anywhere near her until he knew he was over it. And now that the night had finally arrived, Maya was practically bubbling over with nerves and anticipation.

"I found it," Katy announced with a smile as she walked into the bedroom.

Maya took a deep breath while her mother stood behind her and clasped a silver necklace with a teardrop-shaped pendant around her neck. Katy's eyes then moved up to her daughter's reflection, and she found herself getting a little emotional. Maya looked so grown up.

The older blonde traced her fingers around the edges of her wet eyes. "You look beautiful, baby girl."

"Thanks, mom. But please don't start trying to make me cry," Maya implored, turning around. She really didn't want to redo her makeup.

Katy nodded, apologetically. "I know this isn't the first time I've helped you get ready for a date. This one just feels…different. You're really not a kid anymore."

Maya thought it felt different too, but for other reasons. As much as she tried to take the pressure off of herself by thinking of this night as 'only a date', she knew deep down that it was more than that. It was her surrendering the battle to protect her heart and instead choosing to give it what it desired most. Even if it terrified her to open herself up in that way without knowing what might happen.

"Maya," Shawn said, poking his head into the doorway. His eyes widened a little bit when he saw the teen. Aside from school dances and the like, he'd never seen her so dressed up for a date before. And he'd certainly never seen her in a dress that made her look more like a young woman than a teenage girl.

He stepped into the room, managing a smile—albeit a somewhat sad one. "When did you get so grown up, huh?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Katy remarked, sighing.

"Don't worry, you guys have another eighteen years of kid-raising to look forward to," Maya reminded them. "I'm sure my little brother or sister will keep you nice and busy, even when me and your grandkid have moved out."

"That's not in doubt," Shawn agreed, while Katy smiled and rested a hand on her barely visible bump. They were supposed to find out their baby's gender just before Christmas.

"So…" Shawn began, putting a more optimistic spin on his voice. "You ready for this date?"

Maya thought it over for a few seconds before deciding that she was. She'd spent an embarrassingly long time on her appearance; plus she'd made her friends promise in about a dozen different ways that they would keep themselves and their little schemes far, far away from her date. She was taking no chances tonight.

"I'm ready," she finally affirmed.

Shawn nodded. "Okay. I'll go tell Josh you'll be out soon then."

Maya's eyes went wide. "Wait, he's here _now?_ "

She suddenly felt significantly _less_ ready.

* * *

Josh sat on the couch in the living room, eyes focused down on his clasped hands as he waited for Maya. A part of him still couldn't believe that he was here—about to go on a date with the girl that he'd fallen so hard for, the girl who could make him smile without even trying, the girl who fit so perfectly in his arms—like she was meant to be there, and the girl who made him want to be the best person he possibly could be because she _deserved_ the best.

He picked the single red rose up from its resting place on the coffee table and stared at it for a few seconds, hoping all of this wasn't too much for a first date. He'd never worn a tux the first time he took a girl out before, and he'd certainly never rented a limousine for the occasion. Then again, he'd never had family members lining up to fund one of his dates before either. Besides, he and Maya had gone out for burgers or pizza plenty of times, and he _did_ want this occasion to be special.

 _Just stop overthinking this,_ the voice in his head coached.

"Josh?"

Maya's soft voice prompted him to look up, and his heart stopped when he laid eyes on her. She bit her lip ever-so-slightly, unable to stop a little bit of her nervousness from showing through. Josh slowly stood up. He was finding it difficult to form words at the moment.

"Wow," he finally managed. "Maya…you look amazing."

"So do you," she returned, taking a few steps closer to him. Maya had always found Josh to be incredibly attractive, but he looked especially hot in that tux. She diverted her gaze, not giving herself the chance to stare for too long.

"Is that for me?" she asked, taking note of the rose in his hand.

Josh glanced at it and then smiled at her. "That depends on how cheesy you think it is."

The gesture might have come across as cheesy with most guys, but Maya couldn't help but get that warm and fuzzy feeling inside when Josh did it while giving her that sweet smile of his. Especially given the added significance of the flower to them.

She smiled back and accepted the rose. "I think it's perfect," she said, softly.

Katy and Shawn were now standing a few feet away, watching the scene unfold. Displaying a look of happiness, the blonde turned to her husband. "Now even _you_ have to admit that they're adorable," she stated in a teasing tone.

Shawn raised an eyebrow at her. " _I'll_ admit that they're a little bit cute when _you_ admit that you've been secretly hoping they would get together this entire time."

"Not _all_ of it," Katy replied, half-confessing. She turned her attention back to the two teenagers. "I just couldn't help it after I started noticing that sparkle Maya gets in her eye when Josh is around. That's when I knew—she's falling in love with him."

* * *

Maya and Josh had yet to have a real discussion about their feelings toward one another. Partly because they hadn't had much face-to-face time since Thanksgiving, and partly because both of them were reluctant to take that extra step so soon. All they had really established up to this point was that they were romantically attracted to each other, thanks to the whole closet incident. While they were riding in the back of the black limousine, both of them were considering whether it would be best to put everything out on the table tonight, or to proceed with caution and treat this as an ordinary first date.

 _How can I do that?_ Maya thought. An 'ordinary' first date wasn't possible for her and Josh after everything they had already gone through together. They couldn't go backwards and talk about things that people were supposed to talk about on a first date. He must have felt that it was more significant than that too, given the lengths that he'd went to in order to make this night perfect. The realization caused a smile to play upon her lips.

"What's that for?" Josh wondered, unconsciously smiling himself as he watched her grin light up her face. He couldn't believe how gorgeous she was.

"Oh, I was just thinking that you must be trying really hard to impress me," Maya responded, letting her smile morph into an adorable smirk. "Unless you rent limousines for _every_ girl you take out."

He laughed. "No, you're the first on that one. Guess I just wanted to make this a night you'd never forget."

"It already is," she replied, honestly. "You didn't have to get a limo or take me to some expensive restaurant."

Josh gave her a nod. "Good. Because we aren't going to an expensive restaurant."

Maya looked at him with a questioning expression. She was actually relieved to hear that, considering fancy restaurants weren't really her style. She was just a little confused about why they were so dressed up if they were eating somewhere casual.

"So we're gonna pull up at a fast food joint looking like we're going to a ball?" she questioned, finding herself rather amused by the idea.

"No," Josh answered, letting out a chuckle. "I figured we could just skip the restaurant thing, since they're always so loud and crowded."

That statement didn't go over well with Maya's empty stomach, which promptly started to growl. "You realize that I'm pregnant," she reminded him. "That means I get hungry like ten times a day."

"Don't worry, we're going to eat," he promised.

The limousine slowly came to a stop, and the driver proceeded to get out and open the door for them. Josh stepped out of the car first and then held his hand out to Maya with a smile. Feeling a new burst of excitement, Maya took his hand and stepped out as well. And then she lifted her eyes to the scene before her.

It took her breath away.

There was a small, white gazebo sitting in a scenic garden that was often rented out for weddings and parties. The gazebo was decorated with flowers and beautiful lights; in the middle of it was a table set for two, and behind the table were two smiling caterers waiting to serve them their dinner. A long, white aisle runner led from the gazebo back to the limousine where they were standing. The scene looked like something that should be in a movie or on the cover of a magazine.

"Josh," Maya breathed, tearing her eyes away to look back at him. "How did you do this?"

"With a lot of help," Josh admitted. He would've never been able to pull off this night on his own—the limousine, the catering, the location. It was definitely not cheap; there were just a lot of people who'd really wanted to give the two of them a magical first date.

"What do you think?" he asked, softly.

Despite Maya's best efforts, her eyes began to shine with tears. "This feels like a fairytale," she replied in a near-whisper. "How am I supposed to believe that it's real?"

Josh took out his phone. "Well, I think a picture would make pretty indisputable proof."

Maya's lips spread into a smile as she and Josh each wrapped an arm around the other. She rested her free hand on her baby bump, while he extended his other arm out to get a selfie of them standing there with the lit-up gazebo in the background. After the picture was taken, they looked at it for a moment—both reveling in the reminder that they were really on a date.

"You ready?" Josh then asked, offering Maya his arm.

"Yeah," she returned, happily allowing him to escort her into the garden.

* * *

 _I can't believe rich people get to eat like this all the time,_ Maya thought, using her fork and knife to cut off another piece of what had to be the most delicious steak she'd ever eaten.

This really was shaping up to be a perfect night. Incredible food, a beautiful setting. All the lights and flowers surrounding her and Josh made it feel like they were in their own little paradise where nothing existed except the two of them. Plus, it was very warm and comfortable for this time of year; Maya hadn't even needed her wrap. But the best part was thinking about how far they had come to get to this night, to a date that—even a few short months ago—she never imagined she'd be on. She normally didn't put stock in concepts such as _fate_ and _destiny_ , but now she couldn't help but wonder if the universe knew what it was doing after all.

"You know, we might have a problem," Maya said, setting her glass of water down after taking a sip. "I'm not sure how a second date could ever measure up to this one."

Josh grinned. "So I've already earned a second date, huh?"

Maya tapped a finger against her chin, pretending to consider for a moment, before moving her hands to her rounded belly and looking down at it. "What do you think, Jellybean? Should we let your daddy take us out again?" Maya waited a second and then nodded intently, as if she was listening to the baby's response. She proceeded to look back up at Josh. "You're in luck. Our daughter likes you."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that," Josh responded, eyes sparkling with amusement. "But if I remember correctly, her _mother_ is the one who brought up the idea of a second date. She's also the one who wouldn't give me my clothes until I agreed to take her on a first date."

Maya blushed a bit at that reminder. "Yeah, well I had to do _something_ after you tried to make out with me in your brother's closet," she pointed out.

Josh held up a finger while finishing a bite of steak, before he tried to answer that point. "I tried to kiss you, not make out with you," he clarified, as if that correction implied that he had a little more self-control than he was getting credit for.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "So you _wouldn't_ have made out with me?"

Of course he would've. But that was beside the point.

"I was being a perfect gentleman until you started wanting to cuddle," he deflected.

"What, is cuddling your weakness?" she teased, while cutting on her steak.

Josh's expression slowly turned more serious as he watched her. "Only if it's with you," he answered, truthfully.

Maya felt her heart soar at those words, and she moved her gaze back up to where she was looking across the small table and into his eyes.

"You're the only girl I want to cuddle with," he told her, unable to stop himself now. "The only girl I want to go on dates with, the only girl I ever think about kissing. And there's not anyone else in the world that I would rather my daughter have as her mom. Maya, you're everything I could ever want."

His breathless admission was as sincere as it could possibly be, and Maya honestly didn't know how to respond to it. All she knew was that she felt like she was floating on air—a sensation that frightened her, just not quite enough to make her want to come back down to Earth.

"Kind of sounds like you're saying you like me," she stated, quietly—keeping her voice as steady as possible. She didn't want too much hope or elation to shine through. Not yet.

Josh maneuvered his arms around the dishes on the table and took her hands in his own, making it extremely hard for Maya to contain the happiness she was feeling inside. He then gave her the slightest of smiles. "I'm crazy about you," he admitted.

Now Maya was _really_ speechless, but the giant smile spreading across her face indicated without a doubt that she felt the same. Relieved, Josh let his own smile grow as he went on.

"I never planned for it to happen. I was just trying to be a good friend to you at first. But the more time I spent with you, the more time I _wanted_ to spend with you. I still don't completely understand it, but the one thing I do know is that I'm happier with you in my life. And when I'm with you, it feels like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Tears were now pooling in Maya's eyes, but she didn't attempt to wipe them away because she didn't want to untangle her hands from his. "I know what you mean," she finally whispered, while trying to find the words to express her own feelings.

"You don't have to say anything," Josh assured. "I just needed you to know how I…"

Maya shook her head, giving him the signal to stop talking. "I need you to know how I feel too," she said, glancing down at their intertwined hands for a second before getting her thoughts straight and locking eyes with Josh again. "For a long time, people have been telling me that there's something between us, and I kept trying to fight it. I kept trying to pretend that it wasn't true. But deep down I think a part of me had to know that it was. I felt drawn to you in ways that I've never felt drawn to anyone before. And I didn't know how to handle it. I still don't."

Josh nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"But on Thanksgiving—when we were in that closet…" Maya closed her eyes, remembering. "…I realized that I couldn't ignore it anymore. All I could think about was how much I wanted to be with you. I just didn't know how to tell you that."

"I didn't know how to tell you either," Josh responded, letting himself smile. "I thought it might be easier to kiss you and let you figure it out that way."

Maya returned a small smile. "Maybe next time you try to kiss me, you could not take so long," she suggested.

"Deal," he agreed, softly.

While they'd both had plenty of reasons to believe that their feelings were reciprocated before now—the fact that they'd almost kissed and that they were now on this date, just to name a few—hearing the words finally come out of each other's mouths after all this time…it meant everything.

* * *

Feeling Maya's hand in his was something that Josh had waited a long time for, and he could confidently say that it was one-hundred percent worth it. The only thought crossing his mind as they ambled down the walkways of the well-lit garden was of how lucky he was.

"So, exactly how long _have_ you liked me?" she inquired, glancing up at him.

He sighed. "Longer than I want to admit. You were still with Lucas."

Maya's eyes widened at that answer. Because that would've been before they began going to those birthing classes, before the pregnancy photo shoot, likely before the incident in the school hallway…Lucas really _had_ been right.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" she wondered.

"I listened to Cory," he answered, regretfully—causing Maya to let out a small laugh. Josh smiled in response, but he knew he couldn't put _all_ the blame on his brother. "And I didn't want to do anything that would confuse you, or mess things up between us. You were already going through so much...it didn't seem right to put one more thing on your plate."

Maya couldn't help but smile at him. While she wished he'd said something sooner—which probably would've gotten her to admit her own feelings sooner—the fact that he'd been more concerned about her readiness just further illustrated what a good guy he was.

"What about you?" he questioned, equally curious. "How long have you liked _me_?"

She thought back, unsure. "I don't know," she finally answered. "I was still in total denial about it up until my friends hired a girl to pretend that she liked you so I would get jealous."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "And it worked?"

"Like a charm," Maya replied, glancing down as they walked. "I never knew it would hurt so much to think about spending the next eighteen years watching you be with someone else. After everything we'd been through together, after I thought about the way you made me feel...it finally got through my hard head that I wanted that girl to be me."

"You know, that's kind of what happened to me the night we were at that restaurant spying on Riley and Zay," Josh recalled, allowing himself to relive the moment when he'd watched Maya leave his side to let Lucas take her home. It hadn't been a good feeling.

Beginning to understand, Maya looked back to him. "That's how you started figuring all this out. You were jealous of me and Lucas."

He nodded. "I mean, I tried to convince myself that I wasn't. I knew I didn't have a right to be. He was your boyfriend; I was just the idiot who got you pregnant."

They came to a circular fountain that was lit up and absolutely beautiful, and then they proceeded to sit down on the concrete bench that wrapped around it while it continued to spray water up in the air behind them.

"Do you ever wish you could go back and do that night differently?" Maya asked, quietly. Though she wasn't sure that she wanted Josh's honest answer.

"No," he replied, surprising even himself a little bit with how quickly that response came. In the beginning, he would've given just about anything for a do-over of the night she was referring to. He thought that a baby meant his life was over—and maybe certain parts of it were—but now he could see that what he'd been given was so much more precious than what he'd lost.

"I hope I never do anything that stupid or irresponsible again," Josh went on. "But I don't regret where it got me…right here with you and our daughter."

Maya relinquished a small smile. She felt the same way.

"We really wouldn't be here without her, would we?" she said, glancing down at her swollen belly.

Josh wanted to believe that they still would've ended up here somehow, but he knew it wasn't very likely. If Maya hadn't gotten pregnant, they would've probably stayed out of each other's orbits for the most part and continued on the paths they were on.

"Maybe we should call you Cupid," he mused, placing his hand gently on Maya's bump. "I think that would satisfy your mom's 'unique name' requirement."

Maya laughed, softly. "I don't want it to be so unique that she hates us. Besides, we already picked a middle name that's a symbol of every kind of love there is." That had been important to Maya because it was the love of everyone around her that had helped her get through this time.

"Well no matter what your first name ends up being," Josh continued to the baby. "I'm really glad that you came into my life. And I promise I'll be the father you deserve." Maya smiled and laid her head against his shoulder as he went on. "But you should probably know in advance that you're not dating until you're thirty."

Maya rolled her eyes, her smile growing. She laced one of her hands with his atop her belly, while he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and planted a light kiss on her forehead. She didn't know how many minutes passed with them remaining in that embrace; she just knew how right it felt. As for Josh, he would've been perfectly content to hold her like that for the rest of the night, but the wind was picking up and he knew there was a chance of a few isolated thunderstorms passing through as the night went on—that's why it was unseasonably warm.

"I think it might rain soon," he murmured near her ear. "Maybe we should get out of here."

She slowly tilted her head back just enough to look thoughtfully into his eyes. "Not yet," she implored. "There's one thing I want to do first."

* * *

Josh's phone was left lying on the concrete bench playing a slow song that Maya had picked off of YouTube, while the two of them shared their first dance in front of the fountain. It wasn't exactly how the blonde imagined it. Her feet and back were beginning to hurt, and she and Josh couldn't get as close as she would've liked because she was so pregnant. But it still felt really good.

"Thank you," Maya said, her gaze locked with his as they swayed to the music.

Josh gave her a slight smile. "For what?"

"Tonight. Everything you did, everything you said…"

"I meant all of it."

"I know." She pursed her lips together, nervously. Thoughts of the future were swimming through her head. "Josh, what happens now? With us?"

He thought about it. "Well, I was kind of hoping we could have that second date you were talking about. Maybe something a little more low-key than this," he joked. Of course he figured that Maya had been referring more to a possible relationship between them, but he wanted to ensure she knew that he didn't have any expectations about that. He actually preferred the idea of taking things slow because he really wanted this to work long-term.

Maya did too. She knew that she had feelings for Josh and that she wanted to be with him, but easing into something new and scary seemed less intimidating than jumping in head first. They stopped swaying as the song ended, but they didn't let go of each other. Maya began to smile.

"I'd like a second date," she said, quietly. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and then they both started to feel a light scattering of raindrops make contact with their skin—while a huge gust of wind whipped through the air, causing several strands of Maya's hair to fall loose. Still, she and Josh didn't take their eyes off of each other.

"There's the rain," he stated.

She managed a small nod. "We should go."

Knowing Maya was right, Josh held back a sigh and separated himself from her. Even while he silently wondered if these interruptions right when he was about to try and kiss her were going to become a recurring problem. He stepped over to the fountain to get his phone put away while the rain continued to fall, faster and heavier now. When he turned back around, Maya was still standing behind him. A jagged streak of lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up her beautiful eyes and revealing an intense look of desire in them. She took a step closer to him.

"I said we _should_ go," she reiterated, slowly. "I didn't say I wanted to."

She never thought she would be saying that. She'd had a fear of storms in the past and certainly wouldn't want to be standing in the middle of one, getting thoroughly drenched from head to toe. But there was only one thing bothering her right now, and that wasn't it.

Josh's eyes drifted down to her lips. "What _do_ you want?" he questioned.

"I think we both know the answer to that," Maya whispered, just loud enough for him to hear her over the pouring rain. Josh started to smile, but, before he had a chance to react, Maya's hands impatiently grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him towards her. And—as she heard a loud rumble of thunder that sounded like angels were bowling up in the sky—she felt his lips crash into her own.

 _Finally._

No, it wasn't technically their first kiss. But it had all the magic of one.

The rain kept falling. The wind kept blowing. Flashes of lightning kept alternating with rumbles of thunder. However, all of it faded into the background more and more as the kiss deepened. The two teenagers held on tightly to one another, passions erupting after all the time they'd spent trying to hold back, ignore, and deny the feelings that had been steadily growing these past few months. Dripping wet hair was now clinging to Maya's face, her makeup was completely ruined, and every inch of her body was soaked…but the way Josh was kissing her…she'd never felt more beautiful. She'd never felt more _alive_.

Lost in this special moment, the young blonde was blissfully unaware of another special moment that was about to occur. Because, unbeknownst to her, some of that liquid she felt trickling down her legs...

It wasn't rain.


	25. Special Delivery

**A/N: Warning, really long author's note here!**

 **Guys, I am SO sorry this chapter took me so long. Seriously, I never would've ended last chapter with that terrible cliffhanger if I'd known it would take me three months to update. It was basically a combination of life getting more hectic than I could handle (constant family drama, me having to take on two jobs for the summer, etc.) and plus this chapter just wouldn't end. I really should've broke it into two separate chapters, but there just didn't seem to be a good spot to do that. But again, I truly apologize for the hiatus and I hope this long-awaited chapter makes up for it!**

 **A very special thanks to all the people who reviewed last chapter: Guest, Guest, Joshaya, Guest, Laugh instead, Sara, PaintingMusic14, Grace, Guest, It's Allie, shanarose, Guest, Jen2000, Whenitsover, Morgan, Alwaystoolate, Megan, Amy, MilesAndMilesToGo, ImJustRenee, Guest, ShannonCrystal, Guest, Guest, Guest, and Anonymous. You guys have been so sweet and amazing in your reviews, and I can't even express how much all the support means to me. It's a big part of what's kept me going (however slowly) as far as this story is concerned, and it makes me so happy to know that you all have enjoyed reading it!**

 **So I want to address one last thing. I've had a couple people ask for me to extend this story past the baby's birth (which IS in this chapter) and show Maya and Josh's lives after she's born, them raising her, etc. But I've kind of always pictured this story ending with the baby's birth because that just feels right to me, so I've decided that the chapter after this one will be the final chapter of this story. HOWEVER** _ **,**_ **I've also decided to write a sequel that picks up where this story leaves off because I completely agree that there is just so much more story left to tell. I'll hopefully have some more information about the sequel in the next chapter (and next chapter will only be one or two scenes to wrap things up so I promise it won't take long to get that out to you guys.)**

 **So without rambling any further, here's the chapter you've been waiting for. :)**

* * *

That night's storm ended up packing far more of a punch than what all the meteorologists had predicted, with its increasingly heavy winds and the fact that it showed no signs of blowing over. Which was why Josh was taking Maya home early. Though if the blonde had gotten her way, they would still be making out in the middle of all the rain and lightning. Which she would now concede wasn't the safest of ideas.

The two had reached her apartment building and were currently waiting for the elevator that would take them upstairs. Both still thinking about everything that had transpired on their date, about how happy they felt.

"You could stay here until the storm slacks off," Maya suggested. "I'm sure dad will let you borrow some dry clothes."

Josh smiled. "You know you don't have to worry about me."

"I won't if you don't go." She wanted to know that he would be safe, and there was also a selfish part of her that wasn't ready for this night to be over. It had been about as perfect as a date could be, but she still felt like there was more to come somehow.

"Okay," he agreed, feeling the same. "But our date's pretty much over once we get you home." It wasn't like anything could really happen between them in her parents' presence.

Maya let a smile slowly spread across her face. "Then I guess we should be finding a proper way to end it."

Josh couldn't help but grin at her insinuation. "What do you have in mind?" he inquired, though the answer was incredibly obvious as her eyes were already drifting down to his lips.

The elevator finally made its dinging noise, and the door slid open. Giving Josh a smirk, Maya grabbed both of his hands and led him into the elevator. She released one of his hands just long enough to push the number '9'; then she took hold of it again and pulled him to where she was leaning back against the elevator wall with him in front of her.

As soon as the door slid shut, Maya wound her arms around Josh's neck while he wasted no time in leaning in to close the gap between his lips and hers. The kiss started slow and gentle, but quickly turned as passionate as the ones they'd shared earlier that night. The noise that the elevator made as it hit each floor faded into the background, along with the sound of rain pouring outside. Josh's arms wrapped around Maya's waist; one of her hands tangled itself in his hair. They were now about as close as they could possibly get considering the blonde's heavily pregnant state, and she was enjoying every second of it.

She paid no attention to the loud rumble of thunder that boomed through her eardrums and was completely unsuspecting of what would follow it.

And then it happened.

Darkness swept over the aging elevator. The floor seemed to shake just a bit as its journey upstairs came to an abrupt halt.

Startled, Maya and Josh broke their kiss and loosened their hold on each other to look around their surroundings. It was pitch black; they couldn't see _anything_. Josh then re-tightened his arms around Maya, who snuggled closer to him. Both trying to pretend that they weren't unnerved by what just happened.

"Maybe taking the elevator during a storm wasn't the best idea," Maya remarked with a frown. Though her trying to climb nine flights of stairs hadn't exactly been a practical alternative.

Josh's lips found her forehead in the darkness, where he planted a light kiss. "It's just a power outage. It should be over in no time," he pointed out. "But maybe we should go ahead and call someone to let them know what's going on."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Your phone works in here? Mine never does."

A little worried by that statement, Josh pulled out his phone only to see the words 'No Signal' on the screen. _Okay, so much for that idea,_ he thought.

"I'm sure this won't last long," he said, reverting back to his first point. He then turned his phone's flashlight on so they could at least see each other better. Maya didn't even notice the small smile tugging at her lips as they looked into each other's eyes. This was actually sort of romantic.

"You don't look very worried," Josh observed.

Maya managed a shrug. "This won't last long," she stated, repeating his assurance. "And it's not like we haven't been trapped together before. In fact, I'd say it worked out pretty well the last time."

Josh smiled at the memory. "You're not gonna try and steal my clothes again, are you?" he teased.

"You're never going to let that go," she responded, her smile growing.

" _I'll_ let it go when you finally admit that you were never cold."

"Uh-huh, and what would be in it for me if I admitted that?"

He considered for a second, before coming up with one offer that no pregnant girl could refuse.

"I"ll give you a foot massage."

Maya quickly decided that keeping her pride intact wasn't all that important anymore. She drew back from Josh and crossed her arms. "I'm holding you to that."

He grinned as she finally gave in and diverted her eyes away from his. "I _may_ have embellished a little bit when I said I was cold," she admitted, begrudgingly. "I wanted something to happen between us, and I was too big of a chicken to just come out and say so. I guess I had to know for sure that you wanted the same thing."

His eyes softened. "Well I hope you don't have any more doubts about that," he replied. "Because I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right here with you. Even if its in a dark elevator that smells a little bit like gym socks."

She let out a small laugh, unable to disagree with his description of the odor. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing them closer once again. "No more doubts," she promised.

* * *

Maya was now sitting back against one of the elevator walls, with her head leaning back against it, eyes closed, and a slight smile on her lips. She could still hear the rain pouring down outside, but the soothing sound actually helped her body relax even more. She'd been pleasantly surprised that Josh was so good at giving massages; her feet were feeling better than they had in months.

"If you keep doing that, I'm gonna fall asleep," she told him. "Then you won't have anyone to keep you company."

He chuckled. "You should rest if you need to. I think I could manage until the power comes back on. Besides, I can always talk to the baby. Tell her about everything she has to look forward to when she gets here, how excited we are to meet her."

Maya's smile spread further across her face, and she cracked her eyes open. "I'm pretty sure I've covered those topics with her a hundred times before. I can't wait to hold her, to watch her sleep, to see her smile for the first time..."

Josh smiled too as he continued to rub her foot. "It's crazy. At the beginning of all this, I couldn't imagine being someone's dad. Now I can't imagine not having this little girl in my life. She's the best gift I could've ever gotten."

Maya felt her heart melt a little; Josh was going to make such a good father. And she was just before telling him that when her attention was captured by a sudden, unfamiliar tightening sensation that seemed to wrap around her body, from her lower back to her belly. It wasn't really painful, but it was gripping and impossible to ignore. She'd never felt anything like it. She frowned and moved a hand to her bump, while Josh continued to talk-oblivious, as his eyes and hands were now focused on her foot.

"I mean, we knew all along that raising a baby wouldn't be easy," he went on. "But I think we're more ready now than we've ever been. And what we don't know, we'll figure out in a few weeks when she gets here."

"What if that's not in a few weeks?" Maya asked, keeping her voice as steady and calm as possible. She must've been effective in doing so because Josh still didn't look up.

"Well, they'll probably induce labor or something if you go too far over your due date," he answered with ease.

Maya swallowed, nervously. "I meant, what if I go into labor _before_ my due date?"

Josh detected the traces of anxiety in her voice this time and looked up. His phone was lying on the floor near them with the flashlight on, illuminating the space just enough for him to see the fear in her expression. Unfortunately, he still didn't fully understand and took it as her worrying about the baby potentially being premature.

"She'll be fine," he attempted to reassure her. "Remember, the doctor said the risk of complications goes way down after eight months, and we're already a week over that."

She forced a nod. That reminder helped.

"Yeah, I know," she replied, letting her voice shake a little as she looked down at her swollen belly. The tightening sensation still persisted, and she knew deep down in her gut exactly what it was.

Watching her, Josh began to grow more concerned. "Maya?"

She lifted her gaze. Her eyes still held that same fear, now mixed with shock and disbelief.

"Josh," she started, uncertainly. "I think I'm having a contraction."

* * *

Needless to say, the power outage situation turned a lot more urgent afterwards. Josh had spent the better part of the past ten minutes yelling and beating on the elevator door in the hopes that someone would hear him on the other side. If anyone had, they hadn't responded. He finally gave up when his fists and throat were too sore to continue, raking a hand back through his hair because he had no idea what they were going to do.

"Of all the times that this could've happened, did it seriously have to be _now?_ " Maya lamented from her position on the floor. When she'd said she couldn't wait to be a mother, that hadn't meant that she wanted to go into labor while trapped in an elevator of all places.

Josh renewed his determination to keep his cool as he knelt down by her side. Panicking wasn't going to help things in the least.

"Do you think there's a chance this is false labor?" he suggested. "That's normal around this time, right?"

Maya shook her head. "That's not what this is. I can feel it. This is the real thing."

She couldn't explain _how_ she knew that she wasn't in fact experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. They would certainly be preferable to the real thing, plus she hadn't been going through this long enough to tell definitively. But she just had this ever-strengthening feeling that her body was preparing itself to bring a child into the world.

"God, what are we supposed to do?" she questioned, finding herself succumbing to a growing sense of terror. "I can't do this! I can't have a baby in an elevator! Without a doctor, without drugs..."

"Hey, you won't have to," Josh reassured, taking her into his arms. "We're going to be out of here long before the baby comes. We just have to wait it out a little longer and get through this the best we can until we can get to the hospital. It'll all be okay, I promise."

He wanted to hold on to that sliver of hope that this would end up being false labor, but he put far more stock in Maya's maternal instincts than he did his own wishful thinking. So instead he just had to hold on to the hope that the power would be restored soon. With the two of them clinging tightly to one another, Josh sighed and listened to the howling wind and the rain that was continuing to fall with no signs of letting up.

 _Figures that the baby would come during a storm,_ he thought. Maya's whole pregnancy had been a storm-a category five hurricane that had blown through their lives, turning everything in its path upside down. Had they really expected their daughter's birth to be any less dramatic?

* * *

Minutes passed. Then turned into hours. They could no longer be sure of how many, since Josh's phone had went dead by this point. Maya hadn't brought hers at all because she hadn't wanted to carry a purse to keep it in. So the elevator was once again completely dark. Both teenagers were more than a little surprised and frustrated that they _still_ hadn't gotten out of there, though Josh was trying to stay as positive as he could for Maya's sake.

Maya was way past positivity. She was angry with the weather for knocking the power out. She was angry that it was taking such a long time to get it back on again. She was angry that she couldn't get in touch with anyone who could get them help; hers and Josh's families were probably worried sick and assuming the worst by now. And she was angry that her contractions were becoming more and more painful, and there was no epidural in sight.

This was _not_ the way her childbirth experience was supposed to go down.

"Okay, this is a bad one!" she grimaced, gripping Josh's hand tighter as her body was wracked by the latest contraction. He had an arm around her, keeping her as comfortable as possible-but he was starting to feel pretty useless. She was in pain, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Finally the contraction subsided, and Maya allowed her head to rest tiredly against Josh's chest. "Are you still sure the baby won't be born in here?" she asked, her breathing slowly normalizing once again.

 _Not so much, no,_ was his mind's response. Not that he was about to tell Maya that.

"Labor takes a long time," he said, softly.

"We've already been in here a long time," she countered, before lifting her head back up. "You _don't_ think we'll make it out of here, do you? You're just trying to keep me from freaking out over the fact that I'm going to have our child in a tiny, dark elevator, and her first smell is going to be gym socks!"

Josh squeezed her hand. "I didn't say that's what I think is going to happen," he pointed out. "I don't know _what's_ going to happen anymore. But the one thing I can tell you for sure is that you are the strongest person I've ever known. Maya, there is _nothing_ that you can't make it through. And that's not me trying to make you feel better. That's the truth."

Maya let out a shaky sigh; she wasn't feeling particularly strong at the moment.

"I'm scared, Josh," she admitted. "These contractions are only gonna get worse, and we won't have any way of knowing if everything's normal, and the baby's going to need to see a doctor when she gets here, and..."

"Our lives are about to change forever?" he suggested, highlighting the biggest fear that she hadn't really acknowledged. It seemed illogical to the blonde. She was so excited mere hours ago about the idea of becoming a mother. She still felt that way. However, it was just now beginning to sink in that, in no time at all, there would be a little baby who would need her in a way that she had never been needed before. There would be no holidays, no vacations, no sick days from this new role of hers. She couldn't help but feel the pressure; she never wanted to let her daughter down.

"What if I mess this up?" Maya asked, her voice just a notch above a whisper.

"That's not possible," Josh responded. "You know why our daughter's in such a hurry to get here? Because she knows how much love is waiting for her. She felt it from you every single day. When you spent all that time fixing up her room because it had to be perfect. The way you would sing to her when you didn't think anyone else could hear you. How you rearranged every part of your life around being her mom without even thinking twice about it..."

A single tear streamed down Maya's cheek. It was true that she had done all those things, but she'd sort of thought of it all as doing what any other mother-to-be would do.

"We're gonna make mistakes sometimes," Josh went on. "But this little girl is always going to know that we love her, and we're there for her no matter what. That's what she'll remember, not the times we messed up along the way."

Maya nodded, running a finger along the edge of one of her wet eyes. Josh always seemed to know exactly what she needed to hear. She didn't even want to think about the mess she would be if he wasn't there.

"The baby's lucky to have you," she told him. "So am I. I know I said that I could raise her on my own, but now I can't imagine doing this without you."

Josh managed a faint smile. "You'll never have to," he promised, leaning in to let his forehead rest lightly against hers. He'd been trying so hard to be strong for her, and he only hoped that she couldn't sense how scared he truly was.

* * *

It had gotten hot in the elevator over time, which wasn't the main cause for the beads of sweat dripping furiously down Maya's face-but it certainly didn't help matters. Josh had long discarded his jacket for that reason. It was starting to feel like they had been trapped forever. Both of them were sleep-deprived and exhausted by now, especially Maya. She was desperate for something to drink, and even more desperate for something to dull the excruciating pain that came with her insides being ripped apart.

She wasn't just hurting anymore. She felt like she was _dying._ Like there was no way her body would be able to endure this level of torture much longer. For Josh's part, he was continuing to be as sweet and encouraging as he could possibly be, but nothing could help Maya at this point aside from that elusive epidural. And it was probably too late in the game even for that. Maya's contractions were too intense and too close together.

Josh was beginning to accept the inevitable, that he was going to have to help her deliver their baby. And while he'd been preparing himself for the possibility, it still made him more than a little nervous. The father having to play midwife wasn't a heavily-touched upon scenario in birthing class.

"Oh my God, I can't take this anymore!" Maya's voice rung out, laced with the desperation and agony that she was feeling. She couldn't believe that women back in the old days used to routinely pop out seven or eight kids the old-fashioned way. This was pure, never-ending _hell_.

Josh laced his fingers with hers. "You're doing great, okay. It shouldn't be much longer," he attempted to reassure her.

She let out a frustrated groan. "You said that like an hour ago!"

He frowned. "Maya, that was about five minutes ago."

"Well, it _feels_ like an hour ago!"

He sighed and brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it. "I know. And I'm sorry it's happening like this. Just tell me something I can do to help," he implored in an almost pleading fashion.

Maya tightened her hold on his hand. "On the off chance that I ever lose my mind and decide to sleep with you again, refrain from knocking me up next time!" she demanded. "Know what? No. Refrain from even _thinking_ about it. My uterus is going into retirement after this kid is born. If she ever asks for a sibling, we're getting her a dog!"

Josh let a small smile tug at his lips. He knew she wasn't thinking through anything she was saying now, but he couldn't help but feel a spark of happiness at the idea that they would be together all those years into the future when their kid started making requests for a brother or sister. Of course it was best to take things slow as they'd agreed to, but that was exactly the way he hoped things would play out.

"A dog it is," he agreed, before she let out another pained groan. "Here, you want to try sitting up again?" he then suggested, in an effort to make Maya more comfortable. She was now lying on the floor, using his jacket as a pillow for her head, but he knew the tile floor had to be killing her back.

Maya shook her head. "I'm too tired, and nothing is going to make this hurt any less. I just want..." she stopped her incoming rant when her body was overwhelmed by the sudden urge to push. "Oh God," she choked out, moving a hand to her bump. "Josh, it's happening!"

His eyes widened. "Right now? You're ready to push?"

"I need to push!" she confirmed, frantically.

He swallowed hard. He couldn't believe that he was about to become a father.

* * *

Maya pushed as hard as she could, more times than she cared to count. Each effort draining a little bit more of her already dwindling energy supply. She finally closed her eyes, panting heavily and feeling hopeless. She was beginning to think that she was never going to get the baby out of her.

"Can you feel her yet?" she asked Josh, for what had to be the twentieth time. Fulfilling her request to see if she was close to giving birth was kind of awkward for him the first time or two, considering where the baby had to come out of and the fact that he and Maya were fresh off of what was literally their first date. But she was in too much pain to find anything remotely sexual about the situation. She'd actually gotten pretty agitated with his initial hesitation and asked him in a not-so-polite manner how he could have sex with her beneath a maple tree in the middle of a public park, but be too much of a gentleman to help her now after all the hours of labor she'd endured with _his_ child.

Yeah, he didn't have much of an option after that.

But this time his fingers _finally_ brushed against the baby's head and a lot sooner than he would've expected. Their daughter was _right_ there. He felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him and had to command himself not to faint.

"Oh my God," he breathed, before refocusing on the task at hand. "She's almost here, Maya. Just a few more pushes."

"Really?" Maya's voice filled with relief and hope upon hearing that.

Josh nodded. "Yeah. I know you're tired, but..."

He stopped talking when she suddenly started pushing again, somehow summoning up the strength and determination to put out another great effort to expel the baby from her body. It wasn't enough, but Josh now strongly suspected that one more push is all it would take.

Maya stopped to catch her breath for a second, looking up at the ceiling of the elevator-it was pitch black in the small space, so she could almost trick herself into thinking she was looking up at the night sky. And she found herself sending up a silent prayer for her baby girl. That she would be born healthy, that they would be able to give her an amazing childhood, that all of her dreams would one day come true.

"You ready?" Josh questioned, and there was a nervousness in his voice that made Maya's eyes open wide as she continued to catch her breath.

"This is it, isn't it?"

"I think so." A faint, disbelieving smile slowly appeared on his lips. "We're about to have a baby."

She felt tears spring to her eyes. "One more push?"

"One more push," he repeated.

Maya closed her eyes again-and, using the unconditional and unwavering love she felt for the child inside her as a source of strength when she felt like she had none left to lend to her body, she let out a loud, ear-piercing shriek as she began to pour everything into one last giant push. Her entire focus was on this one task; she didn't notice the beeping noise that then occured and was oblivious to the fact that the elevator was now lit up once again.

Josh didn't really pay it all that much attention either. Because in the midst of it all-the lights suddenly coming back on, and Maya's earth-shattering scream-a new, loud, _beautiful_ cry rang out, coming from the tiny, squirming baby girl that he now held in his hands. His eyes immediately began to shine with tears as he looked down in complete awe. He'd never been overcome by so many emotions at once. Happiness, pride, _love_...so much love that it felt like his heart was going to burst. And he instantly knew that there was nothing in this world that he wouldn't do for her.

"Hey beautiful," he finally managed to strangle out. "I'm your daddy."

He then tore his gaze from the newborn to look at Maya, who was now looking back at him and the baby with tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. She couldn't believe she'd just given birth. She couldn't believe that she was listening to the sound of her daughter's cry. She couldn't believe she was a _mother_.

"She's really here," Maya breathed, taking it all in. The baby was covered in blood and who knows what other bodily fluids, but she'd never seen anything more perfect in her entire life.

She slowly forced herself to sit up as to ensure the still-attached umbilical cord wouldn't be a hindrance to her holding her daughter. Josh smiled and carefully relinquished the small, wriggling baby into Maya's waiting arms. And Maya cried even more as she looked at her, because she'd waited so long for this moment and it was even better than she imagined it would be. The connection she felt to the newborn was instant and just as strong as it had been during her pregnancy. A bond that could never be broken. She gently took one of her daughter's tiny little hands in her own, her heart swelling with love and the purest joy she'd ever known.

"Hi," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm your mama. I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Maya began to smile through her tears as she took in every single feature of her little girl. She was far too tired to try and decide who the baby resembled most-there were traits from her and Josh both-but she knew one thing for certain. She would never create a work of art that could _begin_ to compare to the masterpiece that was cradled in her arms.

Josh repositioned himself next to Maya, slipping an arm around her so her exhausted body could lean against him. His free hand's fingers then lightly stroked their daughter's dark brown hair, and he shook his head in amazement of how beautiful she was.

"We really made her," he said, breathlessly.

Maya looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "We did a good job, didn't we?" she asked, softly. Josh smiled and nodded in agreement, to which she smiled back before returning her attention to the still-fussy newborn. "We love you so much," she told her. "And we're gonna remind you of that every single day. You'll always know how important you are. I promise."

"Because you're our first priority," Josh added with conviction. "You'll always be able to count on us. To keep you safe, to be in your corner no matter what, to be the kind of parents you can be proud of..."

"And to not get you stuck in any more elevators," Maya interjected. "I hope this 'being born' thing hasn't traumatized you as much as it has me."

Josh chuckled. "I'm pretty sure she won't remember any of it."

"Well, her mom definitely will."

"Her dad will too." He turned his gaze back to the weary blonde. "You were amazing. What you went through to bring her into the world...I've never seen anything like it."

Maya's eyes met his again. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done," she admitted. "I don't know how I would've gotten through it all without you. I'm really glad you managed to stay conscious the whole time."

 _Just barely,_ Josh thought to himself. Not that he would ever confess how close he'd come to fainting when he felt their daughter's head for the first time.

"Passing out wasn't really an option when my two favorite girls needed me," he stated, shifting his gaze from Maya to the baby-who picked that moment to open her eyes and look up at her parents with large blue orbs the same shade as her mother's. Unknowingly tightening her already-firm grip on their hearts. That was when something suddenly popped into Maya's head out of nowhere.

A name.

And once this happened, she knew it had to be the one. There was no better name to commemorate the baby's birth or the long journey that led up to this night. It represented beauty, but, more importantly, strength. It was nature's blessing, even if it took her a while to see it that way. Because, yes, her world had been turned upside down when she got pregnant. But that rocky path brought her to this moment, where she felt like she was meant to be.

Maya looked back at Josh, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "I know what I want to name her. If you like it too, anyway."

He was a lot less picky about a name than she was, so he was sure that he would love whatever it was. He smiled back at the new mother. "What do you want to name her?"

He didn't realize until the name rolled off of her tongue just how _much_ he would love it.

"What do you think?" she wondered.

"I think it's perfect," he replied, honestly. And the two of them continued to stare at their no longer nameless child with complete enchantment, before finally realizing that the elevator door was wide open.

* * *

"I hate to break it to you, kiddo, but you're never going on another date again," Shawn told Maya as he hugged her tightly. She was now alone in a comfortable hospital room with her parents, who couldn't have been more relieved to learn that she was okay. Hers and Josh's loved ones had been frantically scouring the city in search of them, with even Josh's relatives from out of town rushing here because everyone was so afraid that something terrible had happened. Something even worse than them being trapped in an elevator.

Sitting on the other side of Maya's hospital bed, Katy gently brushed a few strands of hair away from the teen's exhausted face and shook her head. "You have no idea how worried we were," she said, choking back tears. "I thought we'd looked everywhere. I can't believe you were in the _elevator_ of all places. Having a _baby_."

Shawn sighed. "I can't believe we never even considered that. You should've been out of there a long time ago. The baby should've been born here. What if something had gone wrong?"

"It didn't," Maya assured him. "I'm fine, and so is my little girl. In fact, she's more than fine. She's the most perfect thing I've ever seen. I can't wait for you guys to meet her."

Katy gave her a teary-eyed smile. "And we can't wait to meet her. Have you and Josh decided on a name yet?"

Maya started to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of the hospital room door flying open again. Before she could blink, she was surrounded by her friends plus Cory, Topanga, and Auggie. Riley immediately threw herself onto Maya's hospital bed and hugged her. "I love you, Peaches," she said, voice cracking with emotion. She then drew back, abruptly. "But you aren't ever allowed to scare me like that again!"

"That was never my intention, Honey," Maya responded, giving her friend's hand a squeeze. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'll ever get in another elevator without telling someone first."

"You _actually_ delivered the baby in there?" Smackle inquired, to which Maya nodded in confirmation.

Zay shook his head in disbelief. "So in one night, you manage to have your first date with Josh, get stuck in an elevator, worry us all to death, _and_ give birth. You must be _really_ tired."

"That would be an understatement," Maya agreed. Everyone in the room looked like they hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, but she knew she must've looked the worst.

Riley slowly began to smile. "My best friend is really someone's mom now. And my uncle is someone's dad. Oh Maya, I'm so happy for you guys."

"We all are," Topanga added with her own warm smile. "You'll be in for some adjusting the first few weeks, but just know that we're all here to help with anything you and Josh need."

Cory nodded. "Where are Josh and the baby anyway?"

"The baby's getting checked out, and Josh is with her-or at least as close as he's allowed to be," Maya answered with a sigh. She'd wanted to be with their daughter too, but she'd had to get checked out herself after everything she'd went through. So she'd reluctantly let the baby out of her sight on the condition that Josh stay with her. It was the first time that Maya had ever been separated from the little girl, and she was missing her like crazy. Having her friends and family there helped though. Plus the knowledge that her baby would soon be back in her arms.

* * *

Josh looked down at the now-clean baby girl nestled in his arms with a soft, pink blanket wrapped around her and a matching pink hat. She was awake, but she wasn't crying any longer. Only looking around her new surroundings with curiousity.

"She's a little smaller than we would like," the doctor was explaining to him. "That's to be expected with her coming a few weeks early. Still, she's above the average weight for a baby born at this stage, and she looks perfectly healthy in every other area. I'd like to keep her here for a couple of days as a precaution, but your daughter should be able to go home very soon."

The new father smiled, looking back up at the middle-aged male doctor. "Yeah, that sounds great," he replied. "So I can take her back to her mom now?"

"Of course," the doctor answered. He proceeded to give Josh a couple of first-time dad tips as he led him out into the hallway and down it until they were only a few feet away from Maya's room. The doctor then walked away after Josh thanked him. At that moment, Josh's friends Tony and Liam were coming around the corner. Both of them approached him with wide eyes and grins.

"Looks like congratulations are in order," Liam remarked, getting a first look at the baby.

"Hey there, little squirt" Tony said, leaning in and smiling at the newborn. "Wow. How can you look so much like your dad and still be so pretty?"

Josh raised an eyebrow in a good-natured fashion. "Okay, I'll let that one slide since you called my kid pretty, and I couldn't agree more," he stated, glancing down proudly at the infant. He then looked back up. "Plus I appreciate you guys helping mine and Maya's families look for us."

Liam gave him a pat on the back. "Where else would we be? I just wish we'd thought to look in the place where you actually were."

"Yeah, do us a favor and don't get yourself and your pregnant girlfriend stuck in an elevator during the worst thunderstorm of the year again," Tony implored, before a thought entered his mind. "You know, you two end up in these situations an awful lot. Why don't you give me some advice on how I can get stuck in a closet or elevator with Daphne?"

Josh rolled his eyes and smiled at his friend's ever-growing crush on the Starbucks barista that he'd met a few weeks prior. Liam also let out a chuckle. "Tony, I think you screwed that one up when you used the 'Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?' line on her," he informed the blond boy, who could only sigh at the reminder of his lack of subtlety.

"Yeah, maybe," he conceded, before the baby made a cute gurgling noise and made all the guys smile. "So does she have a name yet?" Tony then questioned.

Josh nodded and started to reveal it, when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his parents. They looked so relieved and happy to see him, but were unable to formulate words once they laid eyes on his daughter. All she had to do was look up at her grandparents and they were completely captivated. Amy's eyes immediately welled with tears as she smiled at the baby, while Alan could only shake his head in wonder.

"She's beautiful, son," he whispered.

"I can't believe my baby has a baby," Amy breathed, reaching a hand out to gently take hold of the newborn's. Josh smiled, as he knew that his parents would only be the first of many relatives to fall in love with her.

* * *

Maya could already tell that her daughter wasn't going to have a shy bone in her body. She seemed perfectly content being passed around and fawned over by everyone who had gathered in the hospital room. Of course, she probably recognized most of their voices and knew that they weren't strangers. Or maybe she just enjoyed being the center of attention. Either way, the baby girl was causing hearts to melt all over the place.

"You are the most precious little princess I've ever seen," Riley cooed to the infant currently cradled in her arms. Several other people were surrounding the two cousins, also marveling at the baby. They'd all held her by now, multiple times, but everyone wanted yet another turn.

"I think she has your eyes, Maya," Farkle noted, looking back to the blonde who was watching the scene from her hospital bed.

Katy also smiled at her daughter. "She has her mama's nose too."

"That's about all," Maya replied as her eyes moved to Josh, who was sitting on the stool beside her bed and holding her hand. She laced her fingers tighter with his. "Everything else comes from her daddy. Her hair, her ears, her lips..."

"But her timing comes straight from Uncle Cory," Josh informed the room in a teasing manner, leading to several chuckles from the gathering of people.

Zay looked questioningly at the baby that had just been transferred to him. "What, did you interrupt a romantic moment too?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. Blue eyes just stared up at him with such innocence as if to say, 'Who, _me_?', making it impossible for anyone nearby not to grin. She really was adorable.

Maya gazed lovingly at the pink bundle from afar. "Nope, all she interrupted was a really great foot massage," she stated. "But I think finally getting her out of me is the best thing that my feet and the rest of my body could've hoped for."

While it felt strange not being pregnant any longer, she already felt more comfortable than she had in so many months. Plus she was excited to be able to wear normal clothes again and walk down the school hallway without causing whispers or having someone ask to feel her belly.

"When do we get to find out what the baby's name is?" Auggie questioned, impatiently.

"Yeah, haven't we been kept in suspense long enough?" Riley wondered. "I haven't been able to get any baby stuff monogrammed because I've only known the Matthews part of her name. I mean, unless her first name starts with an M too-which would be _really_ convenient..."

"It doesn't," Josh said, to his niece's dismay. He and Maya then looked at each other and exchanged secretive grins. They hadn't originally intended to reveal their daughter's name in any special way. But when they realized that the other hadn't let it slip to anyone yet, they decided to announce it in a manner that was a little bit unique.

Alan smiled at his son's obvious happiness, before placing a hand on Auggie's shoulder. "I'm sure Josh and Maya will let us know soon. And I'm sure whatever it is will be just as pretty as your little cousin is."

"Oh, I'm not sure that name exists," Shawn disagreed. He was holding the newborn now, while Katy's fingers gently stroked her cheek as they admired the newest member of their family.

Cory took a few steps until he was next to the new parents. "I'm proud of you two," he told them, honestly. "I'll admit, I didn't think you were ready for this in the beginning. I don't think many of us did. But you both really stepped up. Maya, I watched you deal with the rumors and the looks every single day at school. It didn't matter how bad it got; you just kept going. Because that's what your baby needed you to do. And you never let her down."

As tears began to well up in Maya's eyes, Cory laid a hand on Josh's shoulder. "And you. You might've been scared for a while, but that didn't stop you from making your daughter your first priority or making changes in your life for her benefit. Anybody can be a father, Josh. What's really special is being a dad. And that little girl has a good one."

"Thanks, Cory," Josh returned in a near-whisper, standing up to hug his brother. By now, pretty much everyone had gathered closer around Maya's hospital bed. Some were looking quite emotional, but they all looked very happy.

Tony looked at Josh, impressed. "Wow, your brother can give a nice speech."

Topanga smiled and snuggled into her husband's embrace. "Yes he can. Now if we could just get him to stay away from pivotal relationship moments taking place in locked closets, he'd be pretty close to perfect."

"Or people could just start having their special moments somewhere besides my bathroom," Cory suggested, garnering some teary-eyed laughs.

On the other side of the bed, Shawn edged closer with the baby still in his arms and looked at Maya. "You know, me and your mom weren't exactly happy about all this at first," he recalled. "You were so young, and we just wanted to protect you. But Cory's right; you couldn't have been more brave or more committed to this baby. And there's not a doubt in my mind that she's going to be just as proud to have you as a mother as I am to have you for a daughter."

The tears that had built up in Maya's eyes started to stream down her face. "I love you, dad," she said, right before he placed the baby girl in her arms and then hugged her and told her that he loved her too. An emotional Katy then did the same, while Josh received the same sentiments from his own emotional mother. He then smiled at Maya and sat back down next to her as she proceeded to look around at all the people gathered around her bed.

"It's easier to be brave when you know you're not alone," she stated, softly. "I've gotten so much support over the past few months. Even through all the mistakes and the bad choices and the drama that I kept getting myself into." She glanced back at Shawn and Katy. "I had two parents that stood by me through all of it and who did everything they could to make life easier for me." Her gaze then moved to the four teenagers whose support had really been even more remarkable. "I had friends who were better than I deserved. I know I caused a lot of trouble for you guys, but you never walked away from me or stopped believing in me. And when I was being my usual stubborn self, you wouldn't give up until I saw what was right in front of me." She moved her eyes to Josh. "Which brings me to you. I don't know how many doctor's appointments you went with me to, or how many pieces of baby furniture you put together, or how many times you went out to find whatever weird thing I was craving that day. But it was more than that. You made me smile and laugh and feel like everything was going to be okay. You make me happy, Josh. You and our daughter make me happier than I've ever been."

He smiled and moved from the stool to the side of the bed, his eyes flickering down to the baby for a second before he looked back into Maya's eyes. "I could say the exact same thing," he responded, quietly. She slowly smiled back at him, and he leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that maybe lasted half a second but was enough to generate a bunch of smiles and a chorus of "Awww."

At that moment, the hospital room door opened, and Eric and Morgan walked in with Morgan carrying a white cake box and Eric carrying bags with paper plates, plastic forks, napkins, and the like. The oldest Matthews brother raised an eyebrow at the scene they'd walked in on.

"Okay, what kind of mushy family stuff did we miss out on?"

"The kind that isn't over yet, don't worry," Amy replied with a smile. "Where have you two been?"

Morgan looked knowingly at Josh as she and Eric approached everyone. "Josh asked us to go pick up a cake to celebrate," she replied.

"Thank goodness, I'm starving," Katy commented, as murmurs of agreement popped up from others as well. No one had really eaten at all since the previous evening. Maya carefully passed the baby to Josh and then took the cake box from Morgan and placed it on her lap.

"You guys ready?" she asked, glancing around at a bunch of people who had just been reminded of how hungry they were. The question earned a lot of 'Yes' answers and eager nods. The blonde bit back a grin and slowly lifted the top to the cake box, which soon earned gasps, smiles, cheers, and even a few happy tears from the people around her.

Displayed on the simple sheet cake were a few pastel-colored balloons and a message that was written elegantly in light pink icing:

 _Welcome, Stormy Rose_


	26. Merry Christmas

**A/N: Really sorry for the wait, guys. I intended on getting this up a lot sooner, but I've had tons of papers to write for school (English major)- which meant it was really hard for me to get into the mood to write anything else. I just needed a break from typing, lol. But I'm finally back! And I worked on this chapter at the same time I was working on the first chapter of this story's sequel, so I'm happy to inform you that it's almost done and _should_ be up sometime over my Thanksgiving break. **

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter: Joshaya, Guest, Alwaystoolate, Guest, Jen2000, Whenitsover, Grace, Amy, MilesAndMilesToGo, Laugh instead, Megan, Joshaya, Guest, It's Allie, MorganReadsAlot, Sara, Guest, Guest, Ohfc11, Guest, PaintingMusic14, ShannonCrystal, Guest, Anonymous, cool coast, Guest, Guest, Guest, Chelsea, Stormy Rose (lol, cute), jen218, Guest and Guest. I'm so glad you guys enjoyed the baby's birth! I worked very hard to make that part memorable. Hence the elevator instead of your typical hospital room, and the daddy delivering the baby instead of a doctor, lol. I'm sorry that a few of you weren't crazy about the baby's name. Stormy has just been in the back of my head since early on in the story and seemed perfect for Joshaya's daughter.**

 **Okay, so a few things about my next story that will soon be posted...for those of you who are guests or who won't get the notification, the sequel's title will be "From the Ground Up." It will cover a lot more time than the 8-9 months that Sweet Child O' Mine covered. I have ideas that could stretch it through Maya's college years and Stormy's early childhood, but there will be a few significant time jumps so that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be a lot longer than this story was. (But that's certainly possible.) Here are a few very vague spoilers for the early chapters of From the Ground Up (in random order):**

 **Two birthdays, two reveals.**

 **Overloaded schedules equals stress.**

 **An ex re-enters the picture.**

 **Precious family moments.**

 **Maya gets a new sibling.**

 **Some r** **elationships strengthen, others splinter.**

 **Sorry those are so vague, but I don't want to give too much away. I know there's one in particular you guys probably didn't want to see, but allow me to calm your triangle-weary hearts, lol. I'm sticking with Joshaya. Promise.**

 **But now back to this story. I really can't believe I finally get to switch it from in-progress to complete. I've put the past year and a half of my life plus my entire heart and soul into this, and while there are parts that I feel like could've been better, I'm proud of how this story turned out and of how much I've grown as a writer because of it. A million thank you's go out to all of you who have been with me through this process, giving me encouragement and support. I love you all so much! So without further delay, here's the final fluffy chapter of Sweet Child O' Mine. :)**

* * *

Two Weeks Later

Christmas Morning

"You don't believe in sleeping in, do you?" Maya asked as she carefully lifted her crying daughter out of her crib and cradled the baby to her chest. The sun wasn't even close to making its appearance yet, but Stormy seemed to prefer starting her days early. The good news was that she was at least sleeping through most of the night now, which meant that Maya had gotten a chance to begin recovering from the unrelenting state of exhaustion she'd been in the entire first week her baby was home. But even then, the happiness she felt about being a new mom never faded. She loved every single moment that she got to spend with her little girl.

Maya gently stroked Stormy's soft, dark hair while the infant's cries died down now that she was snuggled securely in her mother's arms and being shown the attention she wanted. Maya smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek. "Merry Christmas, pretty girl," she said, lovingly.

"How is it that you always get in here first?"

She turned to the source of the teasing question just as Josh was approaching her and the baby, looking slightly sleepy with messy, disheveled hair that he pulled off with such ease that it made her a little jealous. She didn't pull off the bedhead, T-shirt and sweatpants look nearly as well.

"My room is a lot closer than the couch is," Maya reminded him. "Plus I usually wake up before she even starts crying. I think we have this special, psychic mother-daughter connection that tells me when she needs me."

"That doesn't seem fair," Josh noted. "You get a psychic connection, and all I get is a baby monitor."

Maya smirked. "Hey, a psychic connection is the least I deserve after I carried her for over eight months and gave birth to her in the most painful way possible," she pointed out. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll purposely stay in bed tomorrow so her daddy can tell her good morning first."

Josh smiled at the implication that she expected him to spend the night again. He'd practically been living there since Stormy came home. Shawn and Katy had told him that he could crash on the couch any time- as it meant that Maya would have help taking care of the baby, and plus they understood how special these first few weeks were and thought the new parents should experience it all together. Josh's only concern with this was that he'd grow too accustomed to the arrangement. He loved being able to watch his daughter fall asleep at night and being there when she woke up in the morning. And he also loved being able to spend that extra time with Maya. They hadn't actually gotten to go on a second date yet, but they _did_ get to make breakfast together and cuddle on the couch during movies and share countless other little moments that were just as wonderful as an official date could've been.

"Can you believe this is our daughter's first Christmas?" Maya inquired with a smile, after passing the baby to Josh so he could give her a good morning kiss too.

"Is that what today is?" Josh asked Stormy, feigning a look of surprise. "Maybe we should go see what all Santa left under the tree last night. I'm thinking there might be a present or two for a very special little girl. What do you think, mommy?"

Maya's smile grew. "I think there's a good chance of that," she answered, rubbing Stormy's back. "But we should probably wait until everybody else gets here to open them."

Josh gave her an imploring look. "What if we just opened _one_?" he suggested, looking so cute with Stormy cradled against his chest that she couldn't possibly say no.

"I guess one wouldn't hurt," she relented. Josh grinned, and they proceeded to make their way into the living room. It was currently a little messy with the fold-out couch bed still opened up and the coffee table moved out of its usual location to make room for it, but the space still looked nice as Katy had put a lot of effort into decorating since they were hosting Christmas dinner. Seasonal knick-knacks were scattered all over the place; a large, lit-up Christmas tree stood majestically in front of the windows with loads of gifts now piled beneath it.

"Wow. Looks like somebody around here is on Santa's nice list," Maya commented, leaning down to pick up one of the several gifts that were addressed to Stormy. She then sat down next to Josh on the side of the couch bed. "Okay, let's see what we got here."

Maya unwrapped the present on her daughter's behalf, revealing a cardboard box. She looked at it in confusion, because she thought she knew just about everything Stormy was getting- but this looked unfamiliar. "That one's from me. You can open it," Josh encouraged. Maya began to smile and opened the package to pull out a small, round, light pink trinket box that had an antique look to it. It also had very intricate designs etched into it and was absolutely gorgeous. She just couldn't quite decide what its purpose was, since Stormy wasn't going to be storing jewelry any time soon.

"Josh, it's beautiful," Maya breathed. "I just..."

"Don't see what it's for?" Josh offered, knowingly. "I know. Just open it."

Maya lifted the trinket box's lid and was surprised by the two small figurines that revealed themselves- a man and woman dressed in fine evening attire- and the tune that started to play as they began to slowly spin around in a circle- or dance- with their arms holding tightly to each other and gazes locked as if they were completely lost in the moment.

Of course. It was a _music_ box. Maya could feel her heart melting at the sweet gift that she'd never even thought of. She looked up to see Stormy's stare fixed on the dancing figurines, her blue eyes wide with wonder. A smile formed on Maya's lips, and before she realized it- she was singing softly to the tune that was playing. _"I don't want to run away, but I can't take it- I don't understand. If I'm not made for you, then why does my heart tell me that I am? Is there any way that I can stay..."_

She suddenly stopped when she realized that this was the Daniel Bedingfield song that she and Josh had danced to on their first date. And then she took a better look at the figurines...a brunette and a blonde, a tux and a turquoise dress, the bulge in the female figurine's midsection...

Tears filled Maya's eyes as her gaze met Josh's. "They're us," she realized, her voice cracking with emotion.

He smiled and gave a slight nod, before glancing down briefly at Stormy- who was still captivated by the dancing figurines. "I know we haven't talked about whether we want to tell her one day- about us, about everything that happened before she was born." He looked back at Maya. "But if she never finds out all the details- or even realizes that these figurines are us- she'll still get a peek into the best night of her dad's life."

Maya took one hand off of the music box to wipe at her eyes. She felt like she'd cried more in the past nine months than she had in her whole life before her pregnancy, but she couldn't stop herself from getting emotional when she thought about this journey.

"It was the best night of her mom's life too," she agreed. "At least the part where we were on our date and when Stormy was born. We can leave out the part where I was in labor." As Josh laughed softly, Maya smiled and laced her free hand's fingers with his. "I think this gift is perfect. Just like I think our family is perfect. Which reminds me of something that I was going to show you last night, but the Eagles game kind of had you in a bad mood so I thought I'd wait."

"I'm telling you, those refs were Cowboys fans," Josh insisted, causing Maya to chuckle as she closed the music box and set it on a side table before rummaging around under the Christmas tree and pulling out a small gift bag that was addressed to herself, Josh, and Stormy. She then sat back down on the thin, couch-bed mattress with it.

Josh gave her a questioning look. "It's for all of us?"

"Yes," Maya affirmed. "It's not exactly a gift though, and it's definitely not as cool as a music box. It's just a little something that reminded me of us." She held out her arms to take Stormy. "Come here, my little stocking stuffer," she beckoned as Josh transferred the baby over to her. He then turned his attention to the gift bag, reaching into the layers of tissue paper and pulling out a small, hard object that seemed to have an odd shape to it. His eyes then widened in surprise as soon as he saw it. Because he'd seen those three smiling penguins before, standing above the words 'Our Family's First Christmas.' Of all the Christmas ornaments in the world...

"How did you know?" Josh breathed, lifting his gaze back up to Maya.

She raised an eyebrow, a little puzzled. "How did I know what?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." His glance dropped down to the ornament as his thumb brushed across the surface of it. He couldn't believe the irony, as he hadn't thought about this object in a long time. He stared into Maya's eyes. "I love it," he told her, with the utmost sincerity. And just as she smiled at him, one of his fingers came into contact with a tiny slip of paper attached to the ornament. Josh looked down at it again, for the first time noticing the paper that was hanging on the backside of the ornament from the same hook. He moved it to the front and read the words printed on it. "A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built..."

"I found that a few months ago," Maya explained. "Or, actually, it found me. I didn't really think much of it, but I held onto it for some reason. I didn't realize until way later how much it applied to me...how much it applied to us. It took me so long to acknowledge the fact that I had feelings for you because I was so afraid of those feelings- what they would mean for me. I think I just wanted to feel safe and know that I wouldn't be hurt..."

"Maya, the last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you," Josh assured her.

She managed a hint of a smile. "I know." She freed the arm that wasn't required for holding Stormy and reached out her hand to take the slip of paper between her fingers. "This is to remind me that we only get one life, and if we're lucky enough to find happiness in it- we have to be brave enough to go after it. Even if it means putting our hearts on the line. But _this_..." She moved her fingers to the ornament itself, her eyes resting on the three penguins. "...This is exactly why it's worth it to take those chances. Because family's worth everything. I don't know what'll happen down the road, but I know that I love you and Stormy, and I want..."

Maya's voice tapered off and her cheeks started to heat up when she realized what she'd just blurted out. The rational side of her knew that it was way too soon to be throwing around the 'L' word; she certainly didn't want to ruin what they were building by rushing things. At the same time though, it didn't feel rushed at all. It felt like something that had been in the works over a course of _months_. Still, she wasn't sure how to take Josh's shocked expression.

He hadn't seen her declaration coming at all. Mostly because he'd been certain that he would be the one to say it first. It was a sentiment that he'd felt for a while, and it had been especially difficult for him to rein those three words in during all that time that Maya was in labor with their daughter. He just hadn't wanted her to feel any kind of pressure to say it back before she was ready. But hearing her say it first made his heart soar like he couldn't have even imagined.

"I didn't mean that," Maya stated, nervously. "I mean, I _did_. But I didn't mean to say it. You don't have to..."

Josh leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, cutting off her rambling attempt at an explanation. The kiss lasted a few seconds before he drew back just enough for their lips to separate again. "I love you too," he then whispered, causing more tears to pool in Maya's eyes and begin to stream down her cheeks as she smiled at him. Though the moment only lasted about half a second longer until Stormy started to fuss, capturing her parents' attention.

"Don't worry, we didn't forget about you," Josh promised with a smile, his fingers stroking the infant's hair. "Mommy and daddy love you more than you'll ever know."

Maya nodded in agreement, looking down at the precious baby cradled in her arms. There were no words to describe how happy and blessed she felt at that moment. Because what she was experiencing wasn't a picture-perfect, fairytale ending, but something so much better than that. It was only the starting point of a beautiful new adventure. One that might just last a lifetime.

 _The End_


End file.
